Effect of biopesticides as seed dressers on germination and growth of bheitdi

摘要

Bhendi is ravaged by many insect pests right from germination of seeds to harvest of fruits. In the early stage, sucking pests like aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, the leaf hopper, Amrasca biguttula biguttula Ishida and the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius desap the leaves. Farmers rely solely on the chemical insecticides for the management of pests of bhendi because of easy adaptability, immediate and spectacular knockdown effects (Pawar et al., 1988). Among the various options for applications, seed treatment is one of the best methods, as insecticidal seed treatment not only ensures the presence of insecticide residues throughout seedling stage when the plant is most vulnerable to sucking pests like aphids, leafhoppers and whiteflies, but it alsorelatively inexpensive and easy to adopt when compared to foliar spray or soil application. But some chemicals may inhibit germination and affect the phenology of plants. With this point in view, the present study was taken up to exploit the utility ofvarious formulations of seed dressers and biopesticides for the control of insects ravaging bhendi to assess the biological compatibility and to find out the biochemical changes in plants due to seed treatment.