Abstract

                                Studies were carried out on castor at Tapioca and Castor Research Station, Yethapur, Salem District, Tamil Nadu to find out the resistant sources against capsule borer and leafhoppers Among the eight entries screened, capsule damage ranged from 0 to 11.5 % in the primary spikes as against 35.7 % in the check TMVCH 1. The damage ranged from 0 to 10.8 % in the secondary spikes as against 26.7 % in the check. Maximum capsule damage was observed in RG 3089 (11.5 and 10.8 % in the primary and secondary spikes, respectively), followed by RG 2813, which recorded 5.4 and 6.2 % capsule damage in the primary and secondary spikes, respectively. RG 2770, RG 2776, RG 2778 and RG 2849 were completely free from capsule borer damage.

Key words : Castor, screening, capsule borer, leafhoppers, plant characters