Determining doses of application of fermented cattle urine and indigenous plant extracts against scale insects and mealybugs of sugarcane

摘要

An experiment was set up in 2013-14 cropping season at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur, Bangladesh to find out the efficacy of fermented cattle urine and three indigenous plant extracts i.e., neem, mahagoni and allamanda against scale insects and mealybugs of sugarcane. Cattle urine (10, 20, and 30%), plants extracts (5, 10, and 15%) and one recommended insecticides were applied at fortnight interval starting from the first initiation of the pest attack as foliar and stem spray. Germination percent, tiller number, millable cane, yield, incidence of scale insects and mealybugs and marginal benefit cost ratio (MBCR) were measured. Yield parameters were increased by 30% fermented cattle urine and 15% neem seed kernel and mahagoni seed extracts. Performance of 30% fermented cattle urine (T3 treatment) resulted 48.66 – 62.37% control of scale insects and 52.40 – 67.15% suppression of mealybugs, T6 treatment consisting of 15% neem seed kernel extracts reduced 38.27 – 53.62% scale insects and 40.12 – 57.07% mealybugs and T9 treatment using mahagoni seed extracts decreased 35.32 – 46.47% scale insects and 37.35 – 49.37% mealybugs in different months of the cropping seasons were the best. MBCR of those treatments was 6.25, 6.00 and 5.02. Considering performance of pest control, yield and MBCR, the treatments T3, T6 and T9 may be advocated for the management of scale insects and mealybugs as alternative to chemical insecticides in the sense of economic and safe environment.