3.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present investigations entitled “Development of IPM components for organic

farming in Brinjal were carried out at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi,
during kharif season of 2009 under field conditions. Details of the experimental materials used,
procedures and techniques followed during the course of investigations are presented below.

2.1 Experimental site

Experimental site was located at the Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research
Institute, New Delhi. Geographically, Delhi is situated at 28o40 N latitude and 77o10 E longitude,
at an altitude of about 228.16 meters above mean sea level. It belongs to “Trans-Gangetic Plains”
agro climatic zone and is characterized by semi-arid and subtropical type of climate with
extremes of weather conditions i.e. hot dry summers and cold winters. The mean annual rainfall
is about 764 mm which is mainly received during July to September. The topography of the field
was fairly uniform with a gentle slope. Soil was sandy loam in texture and crumby structure.

2.2 Layout of the Experiment

Crop : Brinjal, Solanum melongena Linneaus
Variety : Pusa Kranti
Design : Randomized Block Design
Plot size : 25 m2
Spacing : 60 x 45 cm
Treatments : 10
Replications :3

2.3 Crop Variety

Variety Pusa Kranti was used for all the experiments. This variety has been developed as a
hybrid derivative at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. It combines good
qualities of three parents namely Pusa purple long, Hyderpur and Wayanad giant. Fruits are
oblong, 15-20 cm long, dark purple with shining green calyx and less seeded. The average yield
recorded was 35 tonnes/ha. This variety is suitable for growing all over India.

2.4 Cultural operations

Details of field experiments for kharif season in 2009 are described below:

2.4.1 Preparatory tillage

The land was subjected to deep summer ploughing with tractor drawn disc plough. Later, it was
harrowed with a disc harrow, followed by planking to provide good tilth.

2.4.2 Nursery sowing

Nursey bed was prepared near the field one month before transplanting. Farmyard manure and
neem cake was applied @ 250 kg/ha. Seeds were sown in furrows with suitable spacing. The
nursery was protected by using net covering
.
2.4.3 Field transplanting

The seedlings were transplanted one month after sowing. The row to row spacing was 60 cm
whereas plant to plant spacing was maintained at 45 cm.

2.4.4 Thinning
After seed germination, the excess seedlings were thinned, so as to maintain the optimum plant
population.

2.4.5 Farm yard manure and fertilizer application

During land preparation, FYM 20 tons /ha was incorporated in the soil. Neem cake @ 250kg/ha
and vermicompost @ 5 tonnes /ha were applied in the respective treatments.
2.4.6 Weed management
Crop was raised under weed free condition by hand weeding as per requirement.

2.4.7 Irrigation
Irrigations were given whenever it was required

2.4.8 Intercropping
Maize variety HQPM 1 was used as border crop on all four sides of the plot. The seeds were
sown along the borders using hand plough after transplanting the main crop.

2.4.9 Harvesting
Fruits were harvested at frequent intervals in early morning hours by hand picking. Fruits were
harvested by bending the pedicel with a jerk.

2.5 Influence of intercropping and plant protectants on incidence of major insect pests and
their natural enemies in brinjal
A field experiment was conducted with brinjal variety “Pusa Kranti” in Randomized Block
Design (RBD) at experimental farm of Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research
Institute, New Delhi during kharif season 2009. There were 10 treatment combinations replicated
thrice comprising border cropping of baby corn (Zea mays (L)) planted surrounding the main
crop. Various neem formulations used were Neem Baan (0.15% Azadirachtin w/w) @ 5 ml/lit,
Neemol (WS) @ 5ml/lit, Neem Azal (1% Azadirachtin EC) @ 5ml/lit, Econeem (1%
Azadirachtin) @ 3ml/lit and NSKE @ 5%, each applied four times at fortnight interval on 30
days after transplanting (DAT), 45 DAT and 60 DAT and 75 DAT. Bacillus thuringiensis
formulation Lipel SP was used specifically against brinjal shoot and fruit borer. Observations on
population and per cent infestation of major insect pests and their natural enemies in five
randomly selected plants in each treatment were recorded from 30 DAT till final harvest of crop.
Yield of brinjal and intercrop were recorded separately and finally economics of different
intercropping treatments was calculated. The details of treatments are given below:
T1 - Brinjal + Neem cake @ 250kg/ ha + shoot clipping + Neemol @ 5ml/lit
T2 - Brinjal + Vermicompost @250kg/ha + shoot clipping + Neem Baan @ 5ml/lit
T3 - Brinjal + Neem cake @250kg/ha + Econeem @ 3ml/lit
T4 - Brinjal + Neem cake @250kg/ha + shoot clipping + Neem Azal @ 5ml/lit
T5 - Brinjal + Baby corn + Neem cake @250kg/ha + shoot clipping + Neem baan @ 5ml/lit
T6 - Brinjal + Baby corn + shoot clipping + NSKE 5%
T7 - Brinjal + Vermicompost @250kg/ha + shoot clipping + Lipel SP @ 1ml/lit
T8 - Brinjal + Baby corn + shoot clipping + Neemol @ 5ml/ha
T9 - Brinjal + Baby corn
T10 – Brinjal alone

2.6 Preparation of insecticide solution

Spray fluid for field application was prepared by the following method. In case of liquid
formulations, the required quantity of insecticide was added to little quantity of water and stirred
thoroughly. Then, the remaining quantity of water added slowly with constant stirring, to get the
desired concentration of spray fluid. In case of soluble powders (Lipel) the required quantity of
insecticide was carefully weighed and added a small quantity of water with brisk stirring, to form
a thick paste. The remaining quantity of water was poured with constant stirring, to get the
desired concentration of spray fluid. The amount of insecticide required per ha was calculated by
the following formula
Amount of insecticide per ha = Conc. required (%)/ Per cent active ingredient

2.6.1 Method and timing of foliar application

There were a total of four foliar sprays in all treatments, first spray commenced at 30 DAT.
Sprays were repeated at 15 days interval. Spraying was done by a double nozzle knapsack
sprayer. Fluid rate varied from 500 to 750 lit/ha depending upon the growth stage of the crop.
Care was taken to ensure thorough and uniform wetting of foliage while spraying. Sprayer was
thoroughly cleaned after each insecticide was used. Spraying of Lipel was done during early
morning hours and neem spraying was done during evening hours and care was taken to avoid
drift. Also, spraying was done with all personal protection viz., use of apron, hand gloves,
pesticide mask, etc.

2.7 Observations and recording of data

During the field trail in kharif 2009, the following data were recorded.

2.7.1 Pest assessment

Sucking pests
In all the treatments observations on population of leafhoppers and whiteflies were recorded
from five randomly selected plants in each plot during early morning hours from upper, middle
and lower leaf from each plant as and when required (Singh and Kaushik, 1990).

Shoot and fruit borer

Shoots infested with the shoot and fruit borer were recorded at the vegetative stage of the crop
and fruits infested were recorded at each picking and their weight was noted. Weight of healthy
and infested fruits was taken separately and level of per cent infestation due to fruit borer was
worked out for each treatment.

Natural enemies
Observations were also recorded on population of naturally occurring predators viz., spiders and
coccinellids in all the treatments.

2.7.2 Bioefficacy of treatments

Population recorded from five randomly selected plants in each plot one day before spraying
formed the pre-treatment count for first spraying. Post treatment counts were taken at 3, 7, 14
days of each spray. Fourteenth day count formed the pretreatment count for subsequent spraying.
Per cent reduction in pest population over control was calculated using Abbott’s formula

Per cent reduction in = {1 - A/B}× 100

where,
 A = Post-treatment population in treatment
B = Pre-treatment population in control
Data recorded in the kharif 2009 regarding population reduction of leafhoppers and whiteflies at
each spray were subjected to Arc Sine - percentage transformation. These transformed values
were statistically analysed by following the procedure given by Panse and Sukhatme (1978) to
obtain the Critical Difference (CD), so that the efficacy of different treatments against the target
pests could be compared to each other and their relative efficacy could be adjudged.
Borer damage was recorded during each picking. All harvestable fruits in each plot were plucked
separately and observed borer infestation. Fruits showing exit holes were considered as infested.
In case of doubt, fruit was cut open and observed for larval damage. Damaged and marketable
fruits were counted and weighed separately to work out per cent damage on both weight and
number basis. Replication wise yields of brinjal fruits was recorded from all treatments. The
yield per plot was extrapolated into yield per hectare. Percent infestation of shoot and fruit borer
was subjected to same procedure of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), so that differential per cent
infestation in treatments could be assessed separately. While comparing the yield from different
treatments, per cent increase in yield over control was calculated using the formula (Pradhan,
1969).
Increase in yield over control (%) = {(T- C)/C} × 100
where,
T = Yield from treated plot
C = Yield from control plot

2.8 Economic analysis

Cost: benefit ratio for all the treatments were worked out considering the prevailing market price
of inputs like insecticides, labour charges, rent of sprayer, market rate of brinjal etc., details of
components are given in Appendix.

2.9 Statistical analysis

Data in percentage form in different experiments were transformed into corresponding arc sine
values. Data on population count were transformed into square root transformation _ X + 0.5 as
per the method developed by Poisson for statistical analysis (Snedecor and Cochran, 1967). Data
collected from field experiments were subjected to analysis of variance and means were
separated by Latin Square Design (LSD) (Gomez and Gomez, 1984) using AGRES statistical
package.