Eco-friendly management of cowpea beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae).

Baral, S., Y. D. GC, R. B. Thapa and S. M. Shrestha. 2007. IAAS Research Advances Vol. 2. Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. pp. 77-83.

Keywords: Adult emergence, botanical dust, Eco-friendly, grain loss, test insect

An experiment on the management of cowpea beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) with selected botanical materials was conducted in Entomology Laboratory of IAAS, Rampur from August 2001 to May 2002 (175 days). The experiment was carried out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications and six treatments. The treatments were: neem leaf dust (Azadirchta indica A. Juss), timur fruit dust (Xanthoxylum armatum DC.), bhojo rhizome dust (Acorus calamus L.), neem kernel dust (Azadirchta indica A. Juss), acetallic and untreated control. Ten adults of Callosobruchus maculatus F. were inoculated in each replication as test insects. Of the four different botanical dusts, bojho rhizome and neem kernel were found as effective as acetalic (organophosphate) with minimum insect build up (0.25±0.5 and 28±3.85) and minimum losses (0% and 0.17±0.13%), respectively. While the neem leaf dust was non-effective with respect to pest build up during the experimental period (1179.5±73.0 days) and grain loss (21.7±5.16%).