Fruitfly, Bactrocera tau Walker, a devastating pest of tomato. lays eggs inside the fruits rendering them inaccessible to be targeted by insecticides. A study on effectiveness of drek seed kernels extract (DSKE) baits viz; bait I (0.25%DSKE +diet), bait II (0.50%DSKE +diet), bait III (1.0%DSKE +diet) was undertaken under laboratory conditions and compared with conventional poison baits viz; bait IV (0.05%malathion +diet) and bait V (0.1%malathion +diet) being practiced to manage this pest on tomato. The diet constituted of protinex:jaggury (1:1), yeast (5%) and ammonium acetate (0.1%). The bait III was most effective in reducing the egg laying (62.3eggs/10females) followed by bait II and bait I being, 74.1 and 90.3eggs/10females, respectively, as against 165eggs/10females in the control. However, in poison baits V (0.1%malathion +diet) and IV (0.05%malathion +diet), the egg laying recorded was 72.7 and 84.7eggs/10females, respectively. In another set of experiment, the ovipositional deterrency was observed to decrease with the decrease in concentrations of DSKE (aqueous). As drek seed kernels extract reduced the fecundity and deterred oviposion, it can be utilized as one of the biorational components for the management of fruit fly on tomato under field conditions.

The Clerodendron infortunatum leaf powder [5,10 and 20% (w/w)] was thoroughly mixed with cow dung and fed to third instar grubs of Oryctes rhinoceros and grub and pupal mortatly, deformalities and fat body of adults in relation to reproduction was studied. Total mortality was 70%, 30% and 10% while O. rhinoceros reared with leaf powder and cowdung mixture 20%, 10% and 5%. At 5% leaf powder and cowdung, exhibited maximum survival rate, and this particular dosage was employed for rearing adult O. rhinoceros for studying the effect of C. infortunatum as a pesticide on the fat body of male coconut beetle O. rhinoceros in relation to reproduction. Observations made on fat body and testis of insect reared on plant powder and cow dung medium revealed certain morphological changes like enlarged lobes in parietal fat body, failure to form lobes in visceral fat body and reduction in size of the testis. Histological changes like disintegration of cell membrane and shrunken and scattered nucleus in the fat body cells, reduction in number and size of spermatids in testis was also observed.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the insecticidal activities of seven plant materials (1-5g/100g cowpea seeds) namely: citrus peel powder (CPP), Acacia leaf powder (ALP), Occimum leaf powder (OLP), mahogany bark powder (MBP), hot pepper powder (HPP), ginger powder (GP) and mahogany wood ash (MWA) and a synthetic insecticide, pirimiphos-methyl dust (PMD) (0.1-0.5g/100g cowpea seeds) as standard. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design, replicated three times. Results showed that MWA was superior at all rates of application in reducing cowpea seed weight loss and seed damage. The effectiveness of the treatments in succession was MWA> PMD> GP> HPP>MBP>OLP>ALP>CPP. The most effective rate of application was 5g/100g cowpea seeds, rather than by 2-3g/ 100g cowpea seeds. There was no significant difference among treatments and the untreated control in the germinability of cowpea seeds, although the lowest germination was recorded in cowpea seeds treated with 1g HPP. Similarly, when the seeds treated with plant materials were cooked, they did not leave any flavour strong enough to influence acceptability by the consumers.

The crude leaf extracts of Abutilon indicum were evaluated for larvicidal, pupal deformities and adult emergence inhibition activity against vector mosquitoes viz., Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus. Larvicidal activity was carried out using WHO protocol. Hexane extract with LC50 value of 261.31 ppm after a period of 24 hr was found to be effective against Aedes aegypti larvae. Larval and pupal development was arrested resulting in decreased pupal transformation and adult emergence. Larval and pupal periods were prolonged with appearance of larval–pupal and pupal–adult intermediates, with an overall increase in the developmental period. Hatching was delayed and its rate was reduced compared to control. Disrupted egg shells and dechitinized body walls were observed, indicating clearly the anti-juvenile potential of the extract. The growth index was considerably reduced. These results suggest the leaf extracts of Abutilon indicum as a promising adult emergence inhibitor against vector mosquitoes and might be used in small volume aquatic habitats or breeding sites of limited size in and around human dwellings.

The larvicidal efficacy of Vernonia cinerea leaf extracts against the common filarial vector, Culex quinquefasciatus was determined. Ground Vernonia cinerea leaves were sequentially extracted with ethyl acetate, chloroform, acetone and methanol. A series of concentrations of the extracts ranging from 0.05 – 2 mg/ml were tested against third instar larvae using WHO protocol and their percentage mortalities, LC50 values were determined. The ethyl acetate leaf extract of Vernonia cinerea was found to be effective with an LC50 value of 1.63 mg/ml after 24 hr. Application of these extracts to larval habits may lead to promising results in filarial and mosquito management programmes.

Resting spores were obtained in vitro of Zoophthora radicans culture using carbon and nitrogen sources. Yeast extract and peptone as the nitrogen source and sunflower oil and dextrose as the carbon source were utilized at different combinations. Among the different C:N ratios tested for the production of azygospores, 4:8 yeast extract and sunflower oil medium combination was found to yield abundant resting spores when compared to other combinations.

Pigeonpea is an important pulse crop damaged mainly by pod borers causing serious losses in pigeonpea yield. Investigations were carried out through field evaluation conducted at the research farm to evaluate the efficacy of stored HaNPV formulations [1- fresh HaNPV (2x109 POBs/ml@250 ml/ha and 1x109 POBs/ml@500 ml/ha.); 2 - stored HaNPV for 1 year (2x109 POBs/ml@250 ml/ha and 1x109 POBs/ml@500 ml/ha)] were found effective in larval reduction and keeping population of Helicoverpa armigera Hubner at its minimum levels and obtaining higher yields of pigeon pea. Despite longer storage of HaNPV for 2 years it is comparatively more effective in reducing H. armigera larvae than the 3 year old formulations.

Carbendazim, hexaconzol, bitertanol, myclobutanil, mancozeb, captan and zineb and extracts of Allium sativum Allium cepa and Mentha arvensis were evaluated for their effect on the inhibition of mycelial growth and spore germination of Fusarium oxysporum. Maximum inhibition in mycelial growth was observed in the hexaconozole at 1000 ppm followed by other fungicides at the same concentration. In case of botanicals, inhibition in spore germination was highest at concentration ‘S’. It was followed by S/2, S/10, and S/100 concentrations of plant extracts as compared to control which showed least inhibition in spore germination.

 The methanol and aqueous extracts of leaves of six different medicinal plants, Acalypha indica, Aerva lanata, Phyllanthus amarus, Phyllanthus emblica, Cassia auriculata and Caesalpinia pulcherrima, were used for the investigation of antibacterial studies. In antibacterial screening performed by disc diffusion method against two types of bacteria namely Xanthomonas campestris (plant pathogen) and Aeromonas hydrophila (human pathogen), it was found that the methanol extracts of all the plant samples showed significant activity against the two tested bacteria. The methanol extracts of Acalypha indica, Aerva lanata and Phyllanthus amarus exhibited clear zone of inhibition against the tested micro organisms. Among these three samples, the MIC value of Aerva lanata, determined by serial dilution technique, was found to be 32µg/ml and 64µg/ml against Xanthomonas campestris and Aeromonas hydrophila respectively.

Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy of two cyanobacterial toxins (microcystin and nodularin) against the different larval instars, pupal and adult stages of Anopheles multicolor. Experiments were carried out in plastic cups, and the two toxins were tested at four concentrations, where the LC10, LC25, LC50 and LC90 for the first instar larvae under laboratory conditions were 2.95, 3.80, 4.95 and 7.45 µg /ml and 4.37, 6.40, 8.85 and 14.39 µg/ml for microsystin and nodularin respectively. While the LC50 for the first, second, third and fourth larval instars were 6.70, 8.92 and 9.70 µg/ml for microsystin and nodularin, respectively. The most sensitive instar was the 1st and the most resistance instar was the fourth larval instar. The delayed effects of sublethal concentrations (LC10, LC25 and LC50) of the two tested toxins on some biological activities were also studied and discussed when treating the fourth larval instar.

Biological control is gaining momentum in the management of sunflower necrosis virus disease (SNVD) as no other effective method is available. In glasshouse experiment-I, six different plant growth promoting microbes (PGPM): Streptomyces sp. PM5, Trichothecium roseum MML005, Bacillus licheniformis MML2501, Streptomyces fradiae MML1042, Pseudomonas aeruginosa MML2212 and Bacillus sp. MML2551 and 2% Morinda pubescens fruit extract applied individually (seed + foliar applications) along with sunflower necrosis virus (SNV) were evaluated in sunflower. Among the treatments, B. licheniformis (Bl), Bacillus sp. (Bsp), P. aeruginosa (Pa), S. fradiae (Sf) effectively increased the plant growth and significantly increased the reduction of virus titre, it ranging from 32.5% to 52.5%. In experiment-II, the above four effective PGPM (Bl, Bsp, Pa and Sf) were developed as consortia in all possible combination in this study and were applied along with SNV against SNVD. All the consortial treatments significantly reduced SNVD in virus titre with disease reduction and concomitant increase in growth promotion when compared to control. In experiment-III, the best PGPM consortia (PGPMC) were applied as seed + soil inoculations along with SNV to study the induction of systemic resistance enzymes. The four culture consortium significantly reduced the SNVD symptoms and virus titer with a concomitant increase in plant growth promotion and ISR enzymes compared to control. In experiment-IV, based on biocontrol efficacy and ISR against SNVD from the experiments I to III, the two more dominant PGPMC treatments were selected and evaluated against SNVD under field conditions. From these results, Bl + Bsp + Pa + Sf effectively reduced the SNVD and improved the plant growth and yield parameters with additional seed yield with income and benefit cost ratio when compared to farmer’s practice. In conclusion, PGPM (Bl, Bsp, Pa and Sf) was found to be very effective against SNVD under glasshouse and field conditions.

Extent of suppression of paddy yellow stem borer population by eleven selected pesticide formulations (9 biopesticide + 2 synthetic pesticide) was studied in the field of paddy cultivar Swarna mashuri (MTU 7029) during three consecutive kharif crop seasons of 2007-2009 at Raiganj, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal, India. Experiment was done following complete randomized block design and had three replications for each year. All treatments were significantly effective in checking stem borer infestation causing the decrease of both dead heart (DH) and white head (WH) number. Numerically, least damage was noted for monocrotophos 36 WSC. This was followed by carbofuran 3G, nimbecidine - 2.5%, neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) - 5%, B. thuringiensis-2ml/L, neem leaf extract (NLE)- 2%, neem oil-2%, karanja seed kernel extract (KSKE)-5%, mahua oil-2%, Vitex negundo extract in ascending order. The control plot has registered maximum DH and WH. In consideration of yield increase over control, maximum efficacy was registered for monocrotophos respectively followed by carbofuran, nimbecidine, B.thuringiensis ,NSKE ,NLE, mahua oil, neem oil, KSKE, V. negundo and plant mixture in descending order. Significant differences in the number of effective tillers/m2, panicle/m2 leaf area index and dry matter production/ m2 in consideration of different treatment formulation was noted. But plant height, panicle length, and 1000 seed grain weight differed insignificantly.

A polyhouse experiment was conducted to find out the efficacy of botanicals and entomopathogens against Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood on different stages of rose viz., bud, half opened and full opened flower. Results revealed that among different stages of rose, half opened flower was found superior to control S. dorsalis. Among different botanicals NSKE (2%) was recorded 74.37 % mortality to thrips. Among different entomopathogens, Heterorhabditis indica (2000IJs/ml) was found next best to botanicals by recording 72.08% mortality of thrips and chlothianidin 50 WDG (0.06 g/l) was recorded 98.58 per cent mortality of thrips.

An experiment was conducted during the year 2007 – 08 and 2008 – 09 to evaluate the bioefficacy of certain biopesticides against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera in chickpea. Neem Seed Kernel Extract (NSKE 5 %) was found most effective in reducing the larval population and pod damage. Yield and Cost Benefit ratio (C: B ratio) was also found maximum in the NSKE treated plots suggesting that these integrated pest management components can be incorporated in the chickpea management.

Bio assays were conducted with MUCL 38502 strain of Beauveria basiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin and MUCL 8237 of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin cultured on SDA and SDA supplemented with host insect larval extract against third instar larvae of Spodoptera litura Fab. The trials were conducted at the Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar to determine the effect on biological properties and virulence of the fungi. Each fungus responded differently to the supplementation. However, in both the fungi the bio mass, linear growth, conidial count and viability of the conidia were increased with the supplementation of larval extract. The LC50 and LT50 values of MUCL 38502 grown on SDA medium and medium supplemented with larval extract were 14.85 and 9.65 X105 conidia ml-1 and 123.02 and 113.95 h at 5X 107 conidia ml-1 respectively. The LC50 and LT50 values recorded with MUCL 8237 were 45.23 and 21.32 X105 conidia ml-1 and 138.72 and 130.93 h at 5X107 conidia ml–1. The virulence of both the fungal isolates increased when grown on SDA medium supplemented with larval extract.