EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT SYNTHETIC INSECTICIDES AGAINST APHID AND BUDWORM (Helicoverpa armigera) ON TOBACCO (Nicotiana tabaccum L.) AND THEIR IMPACT ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF THE CROP IN THE PROVINCE OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

Abstract

A field study was carried out at Tobacco Research Station, Khan Ghari, Mardan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Pakistan during 2003-04 to determine the effectiveness of different synthetic insecticides against aphid and budworm on tobacco and their impact on yield and quality of the crop in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco was raised as test crop and six different synthetic insecticides, namely Imidachloprid WG70, Thiamethaxan 25WG, Methamedophos 50 SCW, Deltamethrin+Triazophos 350+10EC, Spinosad 240 SC, Lannate 20 EC and un-treated control plot were tested on tobacco to assess their impact on different growth parameters and yield (kg ha-1 ) as well. The results indicated that plant height (cm), number of leaves per plant and leaf area (cm2 ) did not varied significantly. However, grade index (%), reducing sugar (%), Nicotine content (%) and yield (kg ha-1 ) were considerably varied among different insecticidal treatments. Treatments with Spinosad 240 SC and Lannate 20 EC showed the highest yield of (2253 and 2121 kg ha-1) whereas the lowest (1717 kg ha-1 was obtained from the control plots where no insecticide was used.