INSECT-PESTS, NATURAL ENEMIES AND SOIL MICRO FLORA IN CABBAGE UNDER ZERO BUDGET NATURAL AND CONVENTIONAL FARMING SYSTEMS
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Date
2019-11
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UHF,NAUNI
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The present investigation ‘Insect-pests, natural enemies and soil micro flora in cabbage
under Zero Budget Natural and Conventional Farming systems’ was conducted during the year
2018-19 at YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh.
During the study period, as many as 7 insect-pests species viz. cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae
(L.), green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), cabbage head borer, Hellula undalis (Fabricius),
diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae (L), greenhouse
whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood and flea beetle, Phyllotreta sp. were recorded from
Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) and Conventional Farming (CF) systems. Seasonally, the pest
population in the two farming systems did not differ significantly. The natural enemies diversity was
higher in ZBNF (7 species) than CF (6 species). In ZBNF system, Diadegma semiclausum (Hellen)
was an additional species, besides six other common species viz. Coccinella septempunctata L.,
Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer), Eupeodes frequens (Matsumura),
Metasyrphus confrator (Wiedemann) and Diaeretiella rapae (Mc’Intosh) common in both farming
systems. The biological and biochemical properties of soil were also studied, in which ZBNF
enhanced the soil micro flora significantly over CF system (bacteria: 3.03; fungi: 12.5; actinomycete:
12.4%). The soil enzyme activities viz. dehydrogenase, phosphatase and urease were also enhanced by
34.29, 7.31 and 10.51 per cent, respectively, in ZBNF over CF system. ZBNF system proved as
efficient as CF in the management of insect-pests of cabbage under their respective management
practices. However, it added more soil micro flora and enhanced enzyme activities more than CF and
thus leaving more fertile soil for next crop.
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