Screening of biopesticides and their combinations against sucking insect pest complex in Bt cotton

Sucking pests like whitefly, aphid, thrips, and leafhopper pose a serious threat to cotton crop,
affecting yield and quality. Implementing integrated pest management strategies, which
involve the use of biopesticides is essential for successful control. The present experiment
was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different biopesticides and their combinations
against sucking insect pests in Bt cotton at Khalsa College, Amritsar, Punjab during kharif
2022. Considering the Economic Threshold Level (ETL) of pests, four sprays were given at
interval of 10 days. The data obtained revealed that a combination of neem oil and
Verticillium lecanii showed a maximum reduction in population of sucking pests viz. whitefly
(64.88%), aphid (70.59%), thrips (54.23%) and leafhopper (62.73%) at seven days after the
end of last spray. The present study highlights the significance of microbial biopesticides in
promoting eco-friendly and sustainable pest management.