Screening of okra genotypes against major pests infesting okra

Abstract

The investigations on “Screening of okra genotypes against major pests infesting okra.” was carried out at research farm, Department of Entomology, (Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani) Maharashtra-India during Kharif 2024. The thirty genotypes were used for the study. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Observations were recorded weekly on five randomly selected plants per plot to evaluate the incidence of major pests, namely aphid (Aphis gossypii), leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula biguttula), whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), thrips (Thrips tabaci), mite (Tetranychus urticae), and shoot and fruit borer (Earias vittella). The genotypes were classified as resistant (R), moderately resistant (MR), susceptible (S), and highly susceptible (HS) based on mean pest population or percent fruit infestation, using scales established by Patil et al. (2020) [14], Kekan et al. (2022) [15], and Sharma et al. (1993) [16]. Genotypes PBN LF-116, PBN LF-122, PBN LF-124, PBN LF-125, PBN LF-126, PBN LF-128, PBN LF-130, PBN LF-133, and PBN LF-139 showed moderate resistance to multiple pests, including Earias vittella. Genotypes like PBN LF-114, PBN LF-124, and PBN LF-130 exhibited resistant (R) reactions specifically against leafhopper and thrips. Among them, PBN LF-124, PBN LF-125, and PBN LF-130 demonstrated consistent performance and are the most promising for developing multi-pest resistant okra varieties.