Management of Insect and Mite Pests of Chili using Botanical and Synthetic Chemicals

Background: The spice crop chili is cultivated all over Bangladesh but the yield is very low due to the infestation of insect and mite pests. This study investigated the efficacy of some botanical and synthetic chemicals for management of mite, whitefly and thrips attacking chili plants. Methods: The chili variety BARI Morich 2 was cultivated in Gazipur, Bangladesh and the chemicals, namely Neem oil @ 1.5 ml/L water, Omite 57 EC @ 2.0 ml/L water, Vertimec 018 EC @ 1.25 ml/L water, Liquor 1.8 EC @ 2.0 ml/L water and Confidor 20% SL @ 1.5 ml/L water were applied on the plants to manage mite, whitefly and thrips. The efficacy of the botanical and synthetic pesticides was compared to control treatment (untreated). Result: The applied chemicals significantly reduced the abundance of mite, thrips and whiteflies, resulting in the lower level of leaf curl index of plants compared to control. All the treatments revealed a significantly higher yield and benefit-cost ratio than that of control. Omite showed the lowest abundance of mite and Confidor showed the lowest leaf curl index with a lower abundance of whiteflies and thrips. Confidor treated plots gave the highest yield and benefit-cost ratio.