Screening of different brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) cultivars against hadda beetle (Epilachna vigintioctopunctata F.) in Pothwar region

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to evaluate different brinjal cultivars against Hadda Beetle Epilachna vigintioctopunctata F. (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera) at University Research Farm Koont, during 2015. The maximum number of all three stages eggs, grubs and adults of E. vigintioctopunctata per leaf were observed to be 5.92, 1.35 and 0.75 respectively on the brinjal cultivar Round F1 Hybrid so considered as the most susceptible cultivar among the tested cultivars. While the least number of E. vigintioctopunctata eggs, grubs and adults per leaf were recorded to be 1.94, 0.45 and 0.41 respectively on the brinjal cultivar Blue Pearl therefore it was considered as the most resistant cultivar relatively. Average hair density on leaf lamina per cm2 and hair density on mid-rib per cm showed a significant positive correlation with the grub population of E. vigintioctopunctata with r-value 0.94 and 0.92 respectively. The average plant height and number of primary branches had shown highly significant positive correlation with the grub population with r-value 0.96 and 0.98 respectively. The yield had shown significant negative correlation with grub population with r-value -0.98. The maximum average yield was observed 1.84 kg per plant on Blue Pearl which was significantly different from other cultivars. The average Relative Humidity (%) showed highly significant positive correlation with adult population while average Rainfall (mm) had shown non-significantly positive correlation. On average basis, temperature showed significant negative correlation with hadda beetle population on brinjal.