Browsing by Author "Jiji, T"

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Composting efficency of indigenous and introduced earthworms
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1997) Jiji, T; Dale, D
Eight species of earthworm belonging to three families were identified from five different soil types of southern Kerala. The identified species were Megascolex cochinensis, M.konkanensis, M.trivandranus, M.trilobatus, Perionyx, sansibaricus, Pheretima heterochaeta (Megascolecidae), Pontoscolex corethrurus (Glossoscolecidae) and Drawida sp. (Moniligastridae). M.cochinenses and corethrurus were ubiquitous. P. sansibaricus was confined to forest soil and red soil. Forest soil with high water holding capacity, organic carbon content and acidic pH had the highest total count of worms and the highest species diversity. The exotic species Eudrilus eugeniae was more efficient for composting in terms of duration for composting and biomass production. However, the multiplication rate of the indigenous P. sansibaricus was more than that of E.eugeniae. In field conditions, when the same weight of worms was used, the time taken for composting was found equal for E. eugeniae and P. sansibaricus. However, the biomass recovery of earthworm was more in E. eugeniae. Both species performed well in the rainy season, compared to hot summer months. The breeding potential, time required for composting and decomposition rate were significantly superior from june to September. There was posititve correlation between juvenile count and rainfall and negative correlation with maximum temperature with respect to E.eugeniae. In P. sansibaricus adult and juvenile counts expressed positive correlation with rainfall and humidity and negative correlation with maximum temperature. Space was found to be a determining factor in the growth and multiplication earthworms. The cocoons of E.eugeniae required 29+ 1.10 days for hatching. The hatching rate was only 56.25 + 1.19 percent in laboratory condition. The mean number of juvenile hatched /cocoon was 2.88+0.35. The period required to attain reproductive stage was 43.38 + 0.56 days. Cocoons of P.. sansibaricus was elongate and slender. The time required for hatching of cocoon was 16+0.43 days. The hatching rate was 64.06+3.44 percent in laboratory conditions. The juveniles required 38.25 + 0.70 days to become adults. The number of cocoon laid / week was also significantly superior, as compared to E. eugeniae. Vermicompost along with full inorganic fertilizer increased the yield by 21.4 per cent and 19.0 percent in bittergourd and cowpea, respectively. In cowpea, application of vermicompost without inorganic fertilizer was equally effective as that of the recommended manorial schedule. There was significant yield increase when vermicompost was used as a potting mixture in bhindi. However, no significant difference in the biometric characters of plants was observed. Vermicompost along with full inorganic fertilizer increased the yield of bhindi by 15 percent. The effect of in situ vermiculture (250 worms of p. sansibaricus /plot) was on par with that of package of practices recommendations. Neemcake was found beneficial for supporting growth and multiplication of E.eugeniae. Neem cake recorded 102 percent increase in juvenile worm production. Neem leaves and thevetia leaves were equally effective. Mahua cake was not supportive for growth and multiplication. Neem cake was effective in supporting growth and multiplication of P.sansibaricus. Neem cake recorded 52 percent increase in juvenile worm production. Leaves of neem, clerodendron and glyricidia were equally effective in supporting juvenile worm production as that of the control. Calotropis leaves and mahua cake caused significant reduction in adult, juvenile and cocoon production. In a pot culture study, among the treatments, carbofuran, phorate and quinalphos, quinalphos(0.5 kg and 1.0kg ai/ha) was found the least toxic to earthworm and there was total survival after an interval of seven days. The treatments involving earthworms for composting evolved significantly higher Co2 during the period of composting, compared to the control treatment of banana: cowdung mixture without worms. The Co2 evolved by the treatments involving E.eugeniae and P.sansibaricus were on par. Maximum Co2 evolution was observed on the 21st day which was significantly superior to the Co2 evolution estimated at various other intervals. From the 21st day onwards a decline in the CO2 evolution was recorded. The treatment involving earthworms had a significantly higher bacterial, fungal and actinomycetes counts, as against the treatment without worms. The highest fungal count for E.eugeniae was found on the 28th day. Towards compost maturity the fungal counts were more or less steady; however, a slight increase in the count was observed on the 56th day. There was no definite trend with respect to actinomycetes count during the period of composting.
Crop loss caused by the root-knot and reniform nematodes in brinjal and control of the pests
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1986) Jiji, T; Venkitesan, T S
Two pot culture experiments were laid out i) to study the pathogenic effect of different inoculam levels of root-knot and reniform nematodes on brinjal, alone or in combination each at 100, 500 and 1000 nematodes/plant comprising 10 treatments and 10 replications and ii) to study the effect of four granular chemicals viz. carbofuran, aldicarb, phorate and quinalphos at the rate of 1.0 and 1.5 kg ai/ha against the above two nematodes alone or in combination, comprising of twentyfive treatments and five replications. The results brought forth the adverse effect induced by the highest inoculum levels of two nematodes either alone or in combination on plant growth characters of brinjal even after 45 days of inoculation. The reniform nematode seems to have more pathogenic effect than root-knot nematode at the same inoculum level. The results obtained from the second experiment indicated that carbofuran or aldicarb at the rate of 1.0 and 1.5 kg ai/ha were found to be the best treatments resulting in increase in plant growth characters and yield and in reducing the nematode population in roots and soil. Phorate and quinalphos were found least effective in promoting growth of plants and in reducing nematode infestations. However the application of phorate or quinalphos at the rate of 1.5 kg ai/ha was found to have equal effect as that of carbofuran or aldicarb up to 15 days of their application.
Eco-friendly pest management in snakegourd
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2001) Sivakumar, T; Jiji, T
A study was conducted to document farmers' practices for pest control, record the population of pests of snakegourd and their natural enemy complex in farmers' field, as well as to evolve an eco - friendly package of practices for pest management. The survey conducted in the farmers' field revealed that the farmers were resorting to indiscriminate use of pesticides. The recommended pesticide/ fertilizer dosage was not practised by the farmers. Quinalphos was the most widely used pesticide followed by carbaryl. The frequency of spraying was the highest at fruiting stage. The major pests observed in the field were B. cucurbitae, A.peponis, D. indica, E. septima, Aulacophora sp. A. gossypii and L. trifolii. A very low population of pests and their natural enemies were present in the farmers' fields compared to untreated plot maintained in the Instructional Farm, Vellayani. In the untreated plot there was ten fold population of natural enemies compared to farmers' field. Fruit flies were found to be serious pests causing 63.63 per cent loss in unprotected field and this emphasised the importance and necessity for fruit fly management in snakegourd fields. Three fruit fly traps viz., were tested to assess their efficacy in catching fruit flies. Among the three traps tested, banana traps consisting of palayamkodan fruit pieces and carbofuran were the best. Three snakegourd varieties viz., Kaumudi, T.A. -19 and Local, were tested against insect infestation. Kaumudi had the lowest infestation by pests like pumpkin beetle (Aulacophora sp.), leaf eating caterpillar (Diaphania indicas, snakegourd semilooper (Anadevidia peponis) and fruit fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae). Kaumudi recorded the minimum fruit fly damage and consequently, the highest yield. Field evaluation of fourteen treatments was carried out at the Instructional Farm, Vellayani during 1999-2000. Chemical insecticides were found to be very . effective in controlling the pests of snakegourd at vegetative and flowering period, but the pest population build up was the highest with them. Neem oil - garlic emulsion was the best in controlling the pest menace with the least impact on natural enemies. Population build up of pests was also low in case of neem oil - garlic emulsion. The practice of covering fruits was very effective in preventing the flies from attacking the fruits. Covering the fruits and setting up of banana traps at the rate of two traps for three plants gave the best protection against the fruit flies. The treatments involving neem oil - garlic 2.5 per cent spray at vegetative stages + covering the fruits and banana trap setting at flowering and fruiting stages gave the highest yield and benefit - cost ratio (1.938). Spraying neem oil -garlic emulsion 2.5 per cent, on need basis, at vegetative stages and setting up of banana fruit fly traps and covering the fruits with reusable polythene covers was found to be the best eco- friendly and economical package for the management of major pests affecting snakegourd.
Evaluation of bait application technique for the management of fruit flies infesting cucurbits
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2005) Vidya, L; Jiji, T
A survey conducted in Kalliyoor and Nedinjil areas and Instructional farm, Vellayani for the assessment of pest incidence in the field revealed that among the five cucurbits viz., snakegourd, bittergourd, pumpkin, cucumber and coccinia, bittergourd had the maximum percentage incidence and coccinia the minimum. Two spiders viz., Oxyopes shweta and Oxyopes sp. and a larval pupal parasite of fruit flies viz., Opius sp. were observed in the field. From the infested fruits of these cucurbits the maximum number of flies emerged from snakegourd and the minimum from coccinia. B. cucurbitae was the only species that emerged from these infested fruits. The survey conducted in Kalliyoor and Nedinjil areas for documenting farmers’ practices showed that majority of the vegetable growing farmers cultivated cucurbits. The farmers were not following Package of Practices recommendations for spacing and fertilizer and pesticide dosages. All the farmers adopted the use of fruit fly traps, especially Palayankodan + carbofuran trap. In the screening experiment in the field, Rasakadali + jaggery + water + carbofuran, Palayankodan + boiled jaggery + water + carbofuran, Palayankodan + jaggery + water + carbofuran and Palayankodan + carbofuran were found to be significantly superior food baits with respect to total fly catch and duration of effective trap catch. In the cage experiment for selecting two superior baits out of the four baits selected from the field screening trial, Rasakadali + jaggery + water + carbofuran and Palayankodan + boiled jaggery + water + carbofuran were found significantly superior. Heating jaggery to 80oC increased the duration of effective trap catch and keeping quality of food baits. Plastic bottles of 350ml capacity provided with windows of size 6cm x 3cm was found to be the most efficient bait dispenser. In the field experiment for standardization of spacing Rasakadali + jaggery + water + carbofuran at 3.5m x 3.5m had the maximum fly catch, compared to all the other treatments. However there was no significant difference in fly catch when the same food bait was used at different spacing. The significantly lower percentage of incidence was noted when Rasakadali + jaggery + water + carbofuran was used at 2.5m x 2.5m and 3m x 3m and Palayankodan + boiled jaggery + water + carbofuran at 2.5m x 2.5m. The yield was maximum when Rasakadali + jaggery + water + carbofuran was used at 2.5m x 2.5m. The population of foliage pests in the snakegourd field was maximum during peak vegetative stage. The peak population of spiders did not coincide with peak fruit fly population. But the population of Opius sp increased with the population of fruit flies. In correlation with weather parameters it was found that female and total fruit fly population had significant negative correlation with morning relative humidity and number of rainy days. The results of the present study clearly revealed that by the adoption of improved Bait Application Technique profitable production of cucurbits without pesticide contamination is possible.
Management of banana pseudostem weevil, Odoiporus longicollis (Olivier), using safe chemicals and bio-rational methods
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2017) Sivakumar, T; Jiji, T
Management of melon fly(Bactrocera cucurbitae coquillett) using local isolates Beauveria bassiana(Bals.)Vuill,Paecitomyces lilacinus(Thom.)Samson and Aspergillus candidus Link:Fries
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2010) Amala, U; Jiji, T
Population dynamics and management of mango fruit fly, bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae)
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2015) Akhila, M U; Jiji, T
Population dynamics and management of shoot webber and hoppers infesting mango using safer molecules
(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2016) Shivamurthy; Jiji, T
The work entitled “Population dynamics and management of shoot webber and hoppers infesting mango using safer molecules” was conducted at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani and College of Agriculture, Padanakkad during 2014-2016 with the objectives to study the population dynamics of mango shoot webber and hoppers in relation to climatic factors and standardize the use of newer and safer molecules for their management. A survey was conducted in 20 homesteads in Kalliyoor panchayath (one plant homestead-1) and in the Instructional Farm, Vellayani (20 plants) to study the population dynamics in relation to climatic factors. Mango shoot webber was identified as Orthaga exvinacea Hampson, and hoppers as Amritodus sp., Idioscopus nagpurensis Pruthi, Idioscopus clypealis Letheirry and Idioscopus nitidulus Walker. Shoot webber occurrence was observed throughout the year, peak incidence was in January (25.6 webs tree-1, 8.2 larvae web-1 and 103.6 damaged leaves composite web-1) at homesteads of Kalliyoor, but in the Instructional Farm, Vellayani the peak infestation was in the month of March (22.25 webs tree-1, 5.7 larvae web-1 and 62 damaged leaves composite web-1). Studies on correlation with weather parameters revealed that maximum temperature and morning relative humidity had positive significant correlation with the population of mango shoot webber. The occurrence of mango hoppers (Amritodus sp., Idioscopus clypealis, I. nitidulus, I. nagapurensis) was the highest in the month of April (12.97 hoppers panicle-1, 17.07 sweep net-1and 4.74 shoot-1) in Kalliyoor panchayath, where as in the Instructional Farm, Vellayani the occurrence of the pests was low throughout the period of observation. Studies on correlation with weather parameters and population of mango hoppers showed that maximum temperature had positive significant correlation. Occurrence of other mango pests were identified as Clovia nebulosa (Fab.), Ptyelinellus praefractus (Dist.) (Aphrophoridae) and Otinotus sp.,(Membracidae). Scales and mealybugs were identified as Ceroplastes sp., Formicococcus robustus (Ezzat & Mcconnell), Eucalymnatus tessellates (Signoret), Rastrococcus iceryoides (Green), Rastrococcus invadens (Williams) and Icerya sp. Ants viz. Camponotus compressus (Fabricius) and Oecophylla smaragdina (Smith) were the natural enemies. Field experiments were carried out in completely randomised design to evaluate the efficacy of safer molecules against mango shoot webber and hoppers respectively. The treatments evaluated for shoot webber were emamectin benzoate 0.002%, spinosad 0.015%, lambdacyhalothrin 0.005%, flubendiamide 0.01%, chlorantraniliprole 0.03%, indoxacarb 0.02%, malathion 0.1%, azadirachtin-1%, B. bassiana (ITCC 6063) WP 2%, water spray and untreated. All the treatments showed significant difference compared to control. Chlorantraniliprole 0.03% showed the highest efficacy with 95.18 per cent reduction over control, followed by flubendiamide 0.01% (85.58 per cent). Azadirachtin 1% and B. bassiana (ITCC 6063) WP 2% were also significantly superior to the control. For the management of hoppers the treatments were lambda cyhalothrin 0.005%, thiamethoxam 0.005%, deltamethrin 0.05%, imidacloprid 0.005%, dimethoate 0.05%, malathion 0.1%, azadirachtin 1%, B.bassiana (ITCC 6063) WP 2%, water spray and untreated. Imidacloprid 0.005% showed the highest efficacy with 97.92 per cent reduction followed by thiamethoxam 0.005% (89.9 per cent), compared to control. Azadirachtin 1% was also found effective in managing the pest. It is concluded that the peak incidence of mango shoot webber and hoppers is in the month January and March, respectively. Correlation studies revealed that the webber population had significant positive correlation with maximum temperature and morning relative humidity whereas, hopper population showed significant positive correlation with maximum temperature only. Chlorantraniliprole 0.03%, flubendiamide 0.01% and biopesticide B.bassiana (ITCC 6063) WP 2% are found effective against mango shoot webber. Imidacloprid 0.005%, thiamethoxam 0.005% and botanical azadirachtin 1% are found effective against mango hoppers.