Effect of irrigation intervals for the safety of Tricho-cards from secondary predators in cotton field

The purpose of this work was to observe the effect of irrigation intervals on the safety of Tricho-cards from secondary predators in a cotton field. Biological control is an important approach for decreasing the population of various insect pests. These beneficial organisms play an essential role in natural pest regulation and are economically valued. The study was conducted at NIA experimental fields, TandoJam, Sindh, Pakistan. Effects of irrigation with ants as secondary predators against Trichogramma chilonis revealed no obvious predation on S. cereallela egg but the ant, maximum emergence (72.97%) of T. chilonis from S. cereallela egg and parasitism (87.19%) by T. chilonis on borer species was recorded in the plots of T1 (Trich-cards stabled after 24 hours of irrigation to the cotton field) and maximum predation (66.82%), minimum emergence (13.54%) and (19.19%) respectively, was seen in T7 (Tricho-cards stabled after 13 days of irrigation to the cotton field). It is concluded that no obvious difference in insect pest population was seen among both genotypes i.e; IR-NIBGE-4 and IR-NIBGE-5 (Bt cotton) and SADURI or NIA-NORI (non-Bt cotton). Tricho-cards stabled after 24 hours of irrigation on to cotton Plant in the field reduce the chance of Ants damaging Tricho-cards that eventually enhanced the emergence of T. chilonis and its parasitism on bollworms. The Biocontrol technique is a cheap and environment-friendly approach to controlling pests. Thus, the study validates that ants, irrigation intervals, Chrysoperla carnea, Sitotroga cereallela and Tricho-cards are much more effective to control pest in a cotton field.