Botanical Compositions for the Management of Sucking and Lepidopteran Pests of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Under Field Conditions

The efficacy of two botanical formulations, an oil-based (OF) and aqueous (AqF), was determined against sucking and lepidopteran pests of groundnut. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with seven treatments and three replicates for each. The treatments were botanical formulations at 10 and 20 mL/L concentrations, along with a standard chemical (Chlorpyriphos 20EC at the rate of 2.5 mL/L) and a botanical (neem oil at 3 mL/L) and a negative control. The results revealed that the whitefly population reduction was 92.8% in chlorpyriphos treatment, followed by 80.0% in AqF at 20 mL, 74.2% in OF at 20 mL, 71.1% in AqF at 10 mL, and 67.3% in neem oil applications 10 days post spray. In the case of leafhoppers, the highest efficacy of 90.3% population reduction was recorded in chemical control, which was closely followed by AqF at 20 mL (83.1%), neem oil (76.4%), and OF at 20 mL (68.3%). A similar trend in efficacy was observed against thrips, namely chlorpyriphos (84.7%) >AqF at 20 mL and OF at 20 mL (76.9%) >OF at 10 mL (61.5%) > neem oil (53.8%). In the case of red hairy caterpillars, the reduction recorded was chlorpyriphos (82.9%) >AqF at 20 mL (80.8%) >AqF at 10 mL (78.5%) and OF at 20 mL (69.2%) > neem oil (55.1%). Among all the botanicals tested, oil-based (OF) and aqueous (AqF) formulations at 20 mL concentration were superior or at par with neem oil applications. The synergistic effects of diverse plant extracts in the formulations could have contributed to their enhanced efficacy. These botanical formulations stood out for managing sucking and lepidopteran pests without adverse environmental and health effects.. KEYWORDS :Biopesticides, Botanicals, Leafhoppers, Pest control, Red hairy caterpillar, Thrips, Whitefly