EFFICACY OF AFIDOPYROPEN AGAINST TOBACCO APHID, MYZUS PERSICAE NICOTIANAE (BLACKMAN) AND IMPACT ON NATURAL ENEMIES IN TOBACCO

Abstract

Tobacco aphid, Myzus persicae nicotianae (Blackman) is an important insect pest of tobaccos in India. Studies were conducted on the efficacy of a new molecule afidopyropen and its impact on the natural enemies of tobacco aphid in flue cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cv. Siri at ICAR-Central Tobacco Research Institute farm, Rajahmundry, India. Results showed that all the treatments recorded cent per cent mortality at 4 DAS except pymetrozine. Studies on persistent residual toxicity to the tobacco aphid showed that the period of persistency was the longest (28 days) and the persistent toxicity index (PTI) was the highest (2276.68) for afidopyropen 0.05%. Afidopyropen is also relatively safe to natural enemies viz., Cheilomenes sexmaculata, Coccinella repanda, Xanthogramma scutellaris and Nesidiocoris tenuis compared to imidacloprid and flupyradifurone. Afidopyropen was found to be very efficient not only in terms of its efficacy but also in increasing cured leaf yield by 30 per cent over untreated check. It can be a promising alternative to the existing insecticides for the management of tobacco aphids in tobacco.