Review on different biocontrol agents used in control of Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner)

Abstract

H. armigera is a major polyphagous pest for agricultural and horticultural crops. It has wide range of host plants. It is difficult to control due to its polyphagous nature, high fecundity, mobility and diapause. The control of Helicoverpa armigera mainly depend on chemicals, but heavy and continuous use of it lead to resistance to different group of insecticides like cyclodienes, pyrethoids, carbamates and organophosphates. To avoid this resistance we should focus on other methods of control like host plant resistance like non-preference, antibiosis and tolerance. Cultural operations like right time of sowing, ploughing, nutrient management, spacing, crop rotation and biological control by using egg parasitoids like Trichogramma chilonis, larval parasitoids like Compolestis chlorideae, bacteria like Bacillus thuringensis, fungi like Beauveria bassiana and virus like HaNPV.