The study on the damage potentiality and eco-friendly
management of red pumpkin beetle on squash was carried out under open field
condition at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural university SAU), Dhaka during the
period from October, 2018 to March, 2019. The experiment consisted of seven
different treatments viz. T1 = Cultural method (clean cultivation to keep the
plot free from weeds and debris & collect grub of Red pumpkin beetle ); +
mechanical control method (removal of infested roots, shoots and fruits) at 7
days interval, T2 = Applying Sevin 50 WP @ 1.5g/pit + using vinegar trap, T3 =
Mechanical control method at 7 days interval + using Funnel Pheromone trap, T4
= Applying Sevin 50 WP@1.5g/pit+ Spraying Folithion 50 EC@ 1.0 ml/L of water at
15 days interval, T5 = Spraying Pychlorex 20 EC @ 1.0 ml/L of water at 15 days
interval + using Pheromone trap, T6 = Spraying Predator 50 EC @ 1.0 ml/L of
water at 15 days interval + using mashed
sweet gourd trap and T7 = Untreated control. The minimum number of red pumpkin
beetle plant-1 ranging from 0.47 - 2.27 at different growth stages was recorded
from treatment T4. The lowest percentage of leaf infestation and long petiole
plant-1 were in the range of 9.38 – 12.90 and 8.41 – 11.65, respectively with
the treatment T4. Likewise, the highest
number of healthy flowers plant-1 (14.27) was recorded from T4 whereas, the
lowest percentage of infested flowers (2.7 – 2.73) was also found with T4. But
at 45 and 55 days after transplantation, the highest number of healthy fruit
plant-1 and lowest infestation was recorded from T5. The highest percentage of cucurbit fruit fly
control (80.42 - 82.41) was also recorded from T5. The highest single fruit
weight (460.00 g), length of fruit(23.10
cm), width of fruit (2.85 cm) fruit weight plant-1 (3.80 kg), fruit weight
plot-1 (34.21 kg) and yield (57.02 t
ha-1) was recorded from T5. Based on the
least leaf infestation, it might be concluded that T4 was satisfactory, but for
controlling Red pumpkin beetle T5 manifested better results.
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