Management of Flea Beetles Using Ecological Engineering in Vegetable Agroecosystem of Kashmir

Abstract Ecological engineering is a new concept of habitat manipulation for restoration of ecosystem thereby reducing dependence on insecticides. It is the intended involvement of insectary plants in managed landscapes influencing survival of natural enemies. These natural enemies lead to pest reduction in environmentally beneficial production practices. The main aim of ecological engineering is to make suitable agroecosystem for natural enemies growth by providing an appropriate environment. Two years field experiment was conducted during 2019 and 2020 for evaluating the effect of ecological engineering on the population of flea beetles viz., Altica himensis and Phyllotreta striolataalong with their natural enemies on the cabbage crop. The plant species in three different combination were worked out for study of pest management. Results showed that Treatment II with main crop cabbage and border crop of dill as a trap, intercrop of coriander as an attractant, buffer crop of onion as repellent and collard as perimeter crop caused the maximum increase in the mean number of natural enemies (1.53 ±0.11) during two years of study which in turn brought maximum mean pest reduction. The diversity of predators were documented in different treatments. Simpson’s diversity index, Shannon-Weiner index and Evenness index were found to be higher in Treatment II. The maximum mean percent increase of natural enemies in main crop over control (268.52%) with maximum mean percent reduction of target pest (56.52%) was observed in Treatment I.