VARIETAL PERFORMANCE AND CHEMICAL CONTROL USED AS TACTICS AGAINST SUCKING INSECT PESTS OF COTTON

Cotton Varietal screening test and Chemical control trials were conducted at Faculty of Agriculture, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan. The experiments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) during 2008, with three replications to decipher the comparative resistance of nine varieties of cotton viz. CRIS-125, CRIS-9, B.T, CIM-506, DNH-105, CIM-554, BH-167, GOMAL-93 and DNH-57 and comparative efficacy of Acetamiprid 20 SP, Imidacloprid 25% WP, Bifenthrin 10 EC, Cypermethrin 10 EC, Triazophos 40 EC, Lambda Cyhalothrin 2.5EC, Rani 20SL against sucking insect pests (whitefly, Jassid and Thrips) of cotton. Among all the tested varieties DNH-105 and CIM-506 were found relatively resistant to sucking insect pest as they showed least infestation and higher seed cotton yield. Other agronomic traits studied were also better in these varieties. Among insecticides, Rani 20 SL and Acetamiprid 20 SP were more effective against the sucking insect pests and in increasing seed cotton yield as compared to the other tested insecticides.