1Assam Agricultural University, Dibrugarh, 786010, Assam
Department of Entomology, Central Agricultural University, Imphal, 795004, Manipur
*Email: mkguptacau@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 5 February, 2019.
The use of dried leaves of ferns for crop protection is a traditional age-old practice in North Eastern India. Evaluations of their efficacy against crop pests is required. The present study evaluates the aqueous extract of dried leaves of eight species of filicinophytic ferns commonly available in Manipur against diamond back moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella L. on cabbage. The results revealed that the extracts of Diplazium esculentum was superior of the ones evaluated. Phagodeterrence property of D. esculentum caused the maximum mortality (54.7%) of larvae with the least consumption of leaves giving maximum protection (59.9%) to cabbage. This fern extract could be incorporated as an ITKbased tool in the biointensive IPM module against DBM.
Fern, filicinophytes, Diplazium esculentum, Plutella xylostella, larval mortality, larval parameters, pupal parameters, growth index, protection
