Effect of Intercrops on the Incidence of Insect Pests of Clusterbean, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba

Abstract

The experiment on intercropping of clusterbean with pearl millet, sesame, green gram and sorghum was laid out with the view to find out the possibility of minimum incidence of insect pests on the main crop. It was observed that in the intercrop combinations, viz., clusterbean + pearl millet and clusterbean + sorghum the main crop (clusterbean) harboured significantly lower population of leaf hopper, Empoasca motti (4.0 and 4.2/ three leaves, respectively), whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (3.0 and 3.7/ three leaves, respectively) and aphid, Aphis craccivora (2.8 and 3.1/ central shoot) as compared to the sole crop of clusterbean. The aphid population was minimum in clusterbean + pearlmillet (2.8/ central shoot) followed by clusterbean + sorghum (3.1/ central shoot) as compared to sole crop (5.2/ central shoot). The highest yield was obtained from clusterbean + pearl millet (9.2 q ha-1) and clusterbean + sorghum (9.1 q ha-1), the two combinations being on par with each other. The equivalent yield was minimum in the sole crop (6.8 q ha-1).