Abstract

Since the sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius Fb. is the most destructive pest of the sweet potato crop, trials for the control of the insect have been in progress in the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore, from 1952 onwards with the synthetic insecticides now available in the market. Experiments conducted up to 1956 had shown that six foliar applications of Aldrin, Dieldrin or Endrin at fortnightly intervals during the growth period of the crop, kept down the infestation and increased the yield (Anantanarayanan and Subramanian 1958). Aldrin and Dieldrin proved better than Endrin in these trials. Further trials were continued in the 1956-57 and 1957-58 seasons on the same lines for confirming the results. Trials were also laid out with different types of treatments like treatment of the slips before planting, and treat- ing soil before and after planting with the object of reducing the cost of the treatment. The results obtained are given below.

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