Screening of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) varieties against sucking insect pests, predators populations and their yield comparison under semi-arid climatic conditions

Abstract

The present study was conducted for screening of some popular varieties of sunflower viz., Armoni, Hysan-33, NK-Singi, S-278 and US-666 against sucking pests namely jassid, aphid, whitefly, thrips, dusky cotton bugs and predators namely ladybird beetle and green lacewing at the research farm area of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan during spring, 2014. According to analysis of variance, there was significant difference in population of jassids on different varieties. Significantly more population was observed in US-666 (20.36) and lowest in S-278 as 16.43 (P