Evaluation of the efficacy of some management tactics against tomato fruitworm Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) in Nangarhar, Afghanistan

Abstract

Tomato is an economically important vegetable grown worldwide for fresh fruits and processing. This vegetable is attacked by a variety of serious insect pests that greatly reduce the yield. Tomato fruitworm is a destructive pest of this crop which causes great losses in tomato yield. The application of conventional insecticides is one of the most commonly measures practiced by farmers to control this pest. However, insecticide application causes a number of serious problems in human health, environment, and economy. A possible solution to the problems is the adoption of the integrated pest management (IPM) tactic. In the present study, a number of environmentally safer pest management options and safer insecticides were tested against tomato fruitworm in open field tomato. In total, 6 treatments including control were evaluated using Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design with each treatment replicated three times. The results showed a varying degree of fruit damage caused by tomato fruitworm in different treatments on different dates. Although all the tested materials reduced fruit damage to some extent, the damage observed in the treatments with emamectin benzoate and spinosad was lower than in the control plot, suggesting the effectiveness of these insecticides for the control of tomato fruitworm. Potential of considering these insecticides under IPM program is discussed.