EVALUATION OF INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OFSOUTH AMERICAN TOMATO LEAF MINER TUTA ABSOLUTA INTOMATOPrasanna Lakshmi Ravuri, P. Ganesh Kumar, Sahaja Deva, M.K. Jyothsna and A.V. NagavaniAbstract Tomato is grown in an area of 36000 ha in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. South American tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta has become major pest in tomato growing areas causing 50-60% damage. Even thoughpest damage starts from seedling stage, damage is not noticed by farmers till fruiting stage due to the pestfeeding habit, and spraying chemicals repeatedly at this stage is of no use. Moreover, it causes environmentalpollution and pesticide residual effects on consumers. Hence, an on-farm trial on integrated managementof the Tuta absoluta was conducted during Rabi, 2020-21. The IPM practices included were installation ofpheromone traps @ 25 per hectare; spraying neem oil @ 5 ml/l, twice @20 and 40 DAT and need basedchemical sprays. In IPM plots, pest damage was low in crop grown under single row planting i.e., 9%followed by double row planting i.e., 12.6% whereas in farmers practice it was 21.5% and 24.3% in singlerow planting and double row planting respectively in crop planted during December, 2020. Crop plantedduring January suffered more than December planted cropi.e., in IPM plots it was 12.5% & 15.5% whereasin farmers practice it was 27.6 and 31.2% in single row planting and double row planting respectively. InDecember planted crop, Fruit yield of 54.2t/ha and 52.8t/ha was recorded in IPM and farmers practicerespectively. In January planted crop it was 51t/ha and 49.5t/ha in IPM & farmers practice respectively.IPM along with planting of crop during December under single row method of planting found to be effectivein managing the pest. |