MANAGEMENT OF BRINJAL SHOOT AND FRUIT BORER USING EXCLUSION NETS

The brinjal shoot and fruit borer, Leucinodes orbonalis is one of the most serious pests of the brinjal crop in Bangladesh and causes damage up to 90% yield loss. It is very difficult to control. An experiment was conducted at the Entomology Field Laboratory, Department of Entomology, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh from December 2020 to April 2021 on the management of Brinjal Shoot and Fruit Borer (BSFB) using three colored exclusion nets, viz., white, blue, and yellow, along with an untreated control. Brinjal, specifically the Singnath variety, was used as an experimental crop. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (BCBD) with three replications of each treatment. The effectiveness of three exclusion nets was evaluated based on the following parameters: plant height (cm), number of healthy and infested shoots and fruit, percent protection of shoot and fruit over control, length and diameter of healthy and infested fruit, yield attributes, and benefit cost ratio (BCR). The results clearly indicated that these mentioned parameters were highly significant with the application of different colored exclusion nets. From the results, the white net showed the greatest reduction of shoot (50.51%) and fruit (65.58%) infestation over control, the highest percentage of shoot (20.55%) and fruit (25.92%) infestation, the minimum number of infested shoots (14.00) and fruits (28.54), plant height (46.34cm), and the maximum length (21.67cm) and diameter (10.07cm) of healthy fruit and returned the highest yield (24.55 t/ha), percentage increase of yield (56.70%) and benefit cost ratio (2.15) compared to other tested exclusion nets. And then, this result was followed by blue and yellow, respectively. Hence, white-colored net could be recommended as the best exclusion net for the sustainable management of BFSB in the field.