INTEGRATED NON-CHEMICAL PEST MANAGEMENT MODULE FOR THEMANAGEMENT OF POD BORERS IN PIGEONPEA

Abstract

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) is an important pulse crop cultivated under rainfed conditions. Its productivity is
greatly influenced by insect pests, particularly the pod borers Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) and Maruca vitrata (Geyer).
Indiscriminate use of chemical insecticides has resulted in insecticide resistance, pest resurgence, pesticide residues and ecological
concerns. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to develop and evaluate an integrated non-chemical pest management
module against pod borers in pigeonpea at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Warangal (GPS 18°00¢38.5²N
79°35¢45.3²E) for three consecutive years from Kharif 2023 to 2025 in the medium maturity pigeon pea cultivar ‘Warangal Kandi-
2 (WRG 255). The study was laid out with three treatments comprising an integrated non-chemical pest management module
(NCPM), integrated pest management (IPM) and farmers practice. The module comprised cultural, ecological, biological and
botanical interventions. The performance of the module was compared with University-recommended pest management practices
and farmers practices. The cumulative results showed that the non-chemical module reduced H. armigera and M. vitrata populations
by 58.5 and 53.0 per cent, respectively, with pod damage of 12.76 and 8.90 per cent. The module recorded a pigeonpea grain yield
of 1001.6 kg ha{ ¹ along with greengram intercrop yield of 329 kg ha{ ¹ and a benefit-cost ratio of 2.18, which was higher than farmers
practice (1.95). Although chemical-based recommended practices recorded higher pest suppression and yield, the non-chemical
module proved effective, economical and environmentally sustainable. The developed module can serve as a viable option for
organic and low-input pigeonpea production systems.