Varietal Screening of Canola (<i>Brassica Nappus</i>) against Major Insect Pests and their Correlation with Climatic Factors

Oilseed crops are very important part of cropping system in Pakistan and known as 2nd important source of edible oil after groundnuts. The objective of study to find out the response of different Varieties of canola against different insect pests under field conditions. Five Varieties viz. T1 =AARI Canola, T2= Super canola, T3= Sandal Canola, T4= Rachna Canola, T5= TM Canola were sown during 2023-24 and 2024-25 under Randomized complete block design (RCBD) having three replications at farm area of Entomological Research Institute, AARI. Faisalabad. For observation of Sawfly, Ten plants from each replications were randomly selected, tagged and data regarding insect population (no. of grubs per plant) were recorded while in the case of painted bug, number of bugs (nymph + adults) from each randomly selected plants were counted whereas in the case of aphid, number of aphid from 10cm central twig of five selected plants were observed. The results during 2023-24 revealed that the highest mean population of sawfly, painted and aphid was recorded on Sandal Canola (4.5, 8.75, 131.89 respectively ) followed by Rachna Canola (4.15, 7.15, 115.44 respectively) whereas AARI Canola (1.90, 4.15, 43.44 respectively) showed minimum pest mean population. Similar tends of insect pests on varieties was observed during 2024-25. Temperature and Humidity showed a negative correlation with mean population of sawfly (r = –0.7536, -0.1488) and painted bug (r = –0.8310, -0.0219) whereas temperature was recorded positive correlation with mean aphid population (r = 0.5119) but relative humidity was negative correlated to aphid population.