Nisha Choudhary, R.K. Meena, Akhter Hussain, Kiran Gaur, Suman Choudhary and S.L. Sharma
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted to assess the quantitative losses due to insect pest of cluster bean during Kharif, 2022 and 2023 at Agronomy Farm, SKNAU, Jobner Rajasthan. The cluster bean variety RGC-1033 was sown in 26 plots and one set of 13 plots was kept protected from pest damage by application of alternate recommended insecticides, i.e. dimethoate 30 EC and malathion 50 EC at 10 days interval starting from the appearance of the pests and the other set of 13 plots was exposed to natural infestation throughout the crop growth to assess the damage caused by the key members of the cluster bean pest complex namely the leafhopper, whitefly, aphid, and tobacco caterpillar. Infestation by insect pests in cluster bean significantly reduced the seed yield in unprotected plots during both the years. On the basis of pooled results, cluster bean crop left unprotected was highly infested by insect pests and recorded significant yield reduction to the extent of 26.74 per cent as compared to crop protected through insecticides.