Comparative efficacy of Botanical extracts against Whitefly (Bemisia tabbaci) on Cotton crop under climate change scenario
Pakistan comes in top exporter of cotton. Cotton crop is under different stresses during its production out of which pest pressure is most important to get good cotton yield. The established field study for use of (tobacco, neem, and kortomma) extract as botanical spray against sucking pests especially whitefly (Bemisia tabaci (Genn.). This experiment was done at Adaptive Research Farm Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab. Synthetic pesticides are excessively consumed to control crop pests but abundant use of chemicals may implicate the whole ecosystem badly in the end. Botanical spray was used against sucking pests to delay the application of first pesticide for maximum number days. This would ultimately reduce the number of pesticides applied along with less residual effects on humans and environment. All the plant products showed varying toxicity against whitefly of Bt cotton 24, 36 and 48 hours after application. Tobacco + neem and kortomma each @ 1483g/ha proved to be more effective (75.4%) against cotton whitefly followed by tobacco + kortomma each @1483g/ha i.e (66.9%) whitefly mortality. The pest scouting data of trial plot clearly show the decrease in pest population after application of neem extract i.e (55.8%).
Keywords: Plant extracts; beneficial insects; insect resurgence; environment-friendly.
