Robert B. Dadson, Iqbal Javaid, Fawzy M. Hashem, and Jagmohan Joshi. University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Department of Agriculture, Princess Anne, MD 21853
Cowpea is a potential crop in the Delmarva area which is a drought prone region with predominantly sandy soils. Insect pests could cause significant losses in the seed yield of cowpea if not controlled. A field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of minimum number and timing of insecticide spray applications for the management of cowpea insect pests in this area. Field studies were conducted in two cowpea growing seasons. The number of spray applications varied from one to two sprays. The spray applications were started at 5 % flowering stage followed by another spray application after 15 days. In other treatments, sprays were started at 5% podding stage followed by the second spray application after an interval of two weeks. California Blackeye 5 variety was used in both experiments. The results showed significant differenced in the seed yield of cowpea in the treatments which had received the insecticide spray applications. Also, there was a significant reduction in infestation of cowpea pod borers in the insecticide treatments compared with control. However, there were no statistical differences in the seed yield and infestation percentage of pod borers which had received only one spray application at the 5% flowering. It is conclude that one spray application at 5% podding could provide significant increase in the seed yield of cowpea and could also reduce the percentage infestation of pod borers and reduction in the number of pod sucking bugs and corn earworm larvae. The spray application needs to be integrated with other insect pest management practices such as time of planting and host crop resistance.
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