Abstract

                                The use of persistent insecticides acquires special concern on vegetables and fruits especially where there is a little time lag between treatment and consumption. So the increasing concern for environmental safety and global demand for pesticide residue free food has evoked interest in exploring eco-friendly method of pest management like biopesticide seed treatment. Seed treatment is one of the best methods, since it ensures not only the presence of insecticide residues through out seedling stage, but is also relatively inexpensive and easy to adopt when compared to foliar spray or soil application. With a view to find out the efficacy of biopesticides viz., Psuedomonas fluorescens, Neem Oil and TNAU NO 60 EC (C) against sucking pests on bhendi in comparison with chemical insecticides like imidacloprid and carbosulfan, two field experiments were conducted one at Neem Park in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore and the another one at Devinayakanpatti of Dindigul District with bhendi variety Arka Abhay and the treatments were replicated four times.

Key words : Biopesticides, seed treatment, sucking pests, bhendi