Efficacy of Different Pesticides Against Red Pumpkin Beetle (Aulacophora Foveicollis Lucas) in Summer Squash Plant

Efficacy of Different Pesticides Against Red Pumpkin Beetle (Aulacophora Foveicollis Lucas) in Summer Squash Plant | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Efficacy of Different Pesticides Against Red Pumpkin Beetle (Aulacophora Foveicollis Lucas) in Summer Squash Plant Gaurab Neupane, Kalyani Bhandari, Swastika Sharma, Pradeep Kumar Teli, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7901921/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Red pumpkin beetle (RPB) ( Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas) is one of the major insect pests of the Cucurbitaceae family that cause severe damage to plants affecting the seedling establishment and lowering yield. Efficacy of two biopesticides viz. jholmol-3 (200 ml/l), neem seed-kernel extract (5 ml/l) and three microbial pesticides viz. Bacillus thuringiensis (2 g/l), Metarhizium anisopliae (5 ml/l), Beauveria bassiana (3 ml/l), and one chemical pesticide viz. imidacloprid (2 ml/l) along with control (water) was evaluated against RPB in summer squash plant at the field of IAAS, Paklihawa, Nepal. The main aim of this study was to assess the performance of different pesticides for the management of RPB in an economically and environmentally sound way. Seven treatments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments were found superior over control in every spraying. The result indicated neem seed-kernel extract, jholmol, and imidacloprid were equally significant for RPB population reduction followed by microbial pesticides. The minimum leaf infestation percentage was recorded in neem seed-kernel extract-treated plots. The yield of summer squash was significantly highest with neem seed-kernel extract (49.09 t/ha) and imidacloprid (47.01 t/ha) application, while lowest in control (25.19 t/ha). The lowest ICBR was obtained in imidacloprid (1:2.75), followed by jholmol (1: 2.74) and Need seed-kernel extract (1:2.50). Repellant, antifeedant and repugnant properties of botanicals leads to lower infestation rate and increase yield of the plant. Botanical pesticides like neem seed-kernel extract and jholmol can therefore be recommended to the farmers as better control measures compared to chemical pesticides. Biological control Chemical pesticides Cucurbits Neem seed-kernel Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 INTRODUCTION Zucchini ( Cucurbita pepo L.) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family and is a highly polymorphic vegetable grown in tropical and subtropical environments during the summer and is harvested when the fruits are physiologically immature [ 1 ]. Due to the higher market value of summer squash, farmers are encouraged to grow summer squash on a huge scale but at the same time losses due to disease and insect infestation discourage them. There are many major and minor insects like beetles, aphids, thrips and whiteflies that cause threats to the production of summer squash and one of the major insect is red pumpkin beetle ( Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas), which causes a 30–100% yield loss [ 2 ]. The polyphagous red pumpkin beetle is known to attack more than 81 plant species [ 3 ]. Sometimes crops need to be resown 3 to 4 times causing greater loss in seed [ 4 ]. Both the larval and adult stages are harmful to the crop, causing significant damage to practically all cucurbits including seedlings, young and tender leaves, and blossoms [ 5 ]. Losses by red pumpkin beetles are higher during seedling stage i.e. 35–75% and it declines as the canopy size of plant increases [ 6 ]. [ 4 ] found RPB attack right after seedling germination and slows down the growth of plant, in severe cases it causes 30–100% yield loss in cucurbits. For pest management most of the vegetable producers have depend upon synthetic pesticides [ 7 ]. However, the unintentional use of synthetic insecticides has resulted in the development of insect resistance, pest population resurgence, the outbreak of secondary pests, unfavorable effects on non-target organisms, and major environmental damage [ 8 ]. The effect of synthetic pesticide and its residue have emphasized the need for the use of alternative pest control tactics and biodegradable pesticides with greater selectivity [ 9 ]. Biorational pesticides refer to pesticides of natural or biotechnological origin that are effective against the target insect but are less hazardous to natural enemies and do not persist in the environment and are safer to handle [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Microbials insecticides (viruses, bacteria, fungus, and protozoa), botanical extracts, and bio chemicals (semi chemicals) are the three basic categories of bio-rational pesticides [ 13 ]. Botanical pesticides are derived from plants or plant extracts, environmentally safer, unique with novel mode of action and rich source of biologically active compounds [ 14 ]. Complex mixture of active compound made from crude plant extract shows greater overall bioactivity compared to individual constituents [ 15 ]. These pesticides harness natural compounds (phytochemicals) found in plants to repel, deter, or kill pests and often disrupt pest behavior, feeding, and reproduction. Botanical pesticides can often be easily produced by farmers and small-scale industries, indigenous plant materials and hazard free in comparison to chemical pesticides [ 16 , 17 ]. Biological Microorganisms (BMOs) include living microbes (bacteria, fungi, nematodes, viruses, and protozoa) [ 17 ]. The effect by microbial entomopathogens occurs by minor invasion through the integument or gut of the insect, followed by multiplication of the pathogen resulting in the death of the host, e.g., insects [ 18 ]. Though, botanical and biological control are economically sound and environmentally friendly but are not commonly practiced in our country. Research should be conducted looking the economic, edaphic and environmental factors of Nepal. There should be proper relation between researchers, extensionist and farmers to develop effective alternative methods such as botanicals and bio-pesticides for efficient control. Globally, 2 million tons of agrochemicals including pesticides are used to enhance productivity and reduce the food insecurity [ 19 ], which have caused soil degradation, deterioration of agro-ecosystem, ground water contamination, potential threat to animal and human health and safety, residue problem and pesticide resistance [ 20 ]. Biological pesticides having nature of low toxicity, target specificity and environmentally safe are being used these days. However, effective use of biopesticides demands understanding of a great deal about managing pests especially by the end users [ 21 ]. The Red Pumpkin Beetle, Aulacophora foveicollis is widely distributed in different parts of the world, especially in Asia, Africa, Australia and South Europe [ 22 ]. This insect is widely distributed all over the South-East Asia as well as the Mediterranean region towards the west and Australia in the east [ 23 ]. The pests are active from March to October, though the peak period of activity is between April to June [ 23 ]. Both larval and adult stages of red pumpkin beetle are injurious to the crops. Entomopathogenic fungi could directly penetrate the cuticles of insect pests by secreting a few proteases and chitinases under the function of turgor pressure [ 24 ]. B. bassiana is applied in the form of conidia or mycelium which sporulates after application and it infects the host by penetrating from cuticle, reaching hemolymph, producing toxins and growing by nutrients present in the haemocoel [ 25 ]. Most popular and widely used bacteria for pest control is Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) which is gram positive, spore-forming soil bacteria that produces parasporal, proteinaceous, crystal inclusion bodies during sporulation and are pathogenic to certain insect [ 9 ]. The seed kernel extract extracted from the neem tree ( Azadirachta indica ) contains complex constituents that are insecticidal. Of these, azadirachtin (Aza) is known to cause a range of effects on several species of insects. The physical properties of the extract show that the extract possess the basic properties of a good insect pest repellent [ 25 ]. [ 26 ] reported that neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) was found most effective in reducing the insect population. [ 27 ] also reported that neem biopesticides are systemic in nature and provide long term protection to plants against pests thereby promoting pollinator insects, bees and other useful organisms. Jholmal is a homemade organic fertilizer and botanical pesticide prepared by mixing and fermenting in a defined ratio of locally available materials such as animal urine, water, beneficial microbes, farmyard manure, and leaves with a pungent odour and taste [ 28 ]. Jholmal is based on a local traditional practice, and its use in the agricultural farmlands’ safeguards both the environment and human [ 29 ]. Jholmol prepared by using different pesticidal values, preferably having a pungent smell like Neem along with cow urine, dung, etc. is considered as a natural bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticide [ 30 ]. Nepalese farmers have been using these botanical pesticides and jholmol was considered as best alternative of chemical pesticide [ 31 ]. So, it seems relevant to carry out research to find the effectiveness of jholmol in this local setting. Imidacloprid (1-((6-chloro-3-pyridinyl) methyl)- N -nitro-2-imidazolidnimine) is a neonicotinoid insecticide, colorless crystal belonging to the chloronitroguanidine compounds, and has a melting point of 143.8°C [ 32 ]. Imidacloprid is a polar compound, chemically stable under neutral and acidic conditions, but decomposes gradually in alkaline solutions [ 15 ]. While imidacloprid is found effective at controlling pests and has been widely adopted in agriculture, it has also raised concerns about its potential negative impacts on non-target organisms, including pollinators like bees and other beneficial insects like butterflies, hover fly etc. [ 33 ]. MATERIALS AND METHODS Site selection The research was carried out in Nepal, Siddharthanagar Municipality, Paklihawa Campus, Horticulture farm, in the month of March-April (Fig. 1 ). The experimental area was situated in the humid sub-tropical zone characterized by four distinct seasons, the rainy or monsoon, the winter, the spring and the summer season. During this period of year, the incidence of Red Pumpkin beetle was generally high in cucurbits, so our research here was based on evaluating the available insecticides (Synthetic and Biological) against the RPB. Research design and layout Research was carried out in Random Complete Block Design (RCBD) research layout. All the treatments were randomized in three replications. There were seven treatments and three replications of each treatment. Among seven treatments, three were entomopathogenic fungi viz., Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and Bacillus thuringiensis , two were botanical pesticides viz., jholmol and neem seed kernel extract, one was chemical pesticide viz., imidacloprid and pure water was used as control as described in (Table 1 ). Table 1 Details of treatments used in research Treatments Trade Name Manufacturer Active ingredients Dose (per litre of water) T1: Beauveria bassiana Daman International Panaacea Ltd. B. bassiana spores 2% A.S. CFU count:2*10 8 per ml 3 ml T2: Metarhizium anisopliae Praramvamet-jen Praramva biotech Metarhizium anisopliae CFU@ 1* 10 9 spores/ml 5 ml T3: Bacillus thuringiensis Mahastra International Panaacea Ltd. B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki Delta endotoxin 0.5% (WP) 2 g T4: Imidacloprid Premida Prestige Agrochemical Imidacloprid 17.8 SL 2ml T5: Jholmol-3 - Self-made Botanical extracts 200ml T6:Neem seed kernel extract Multinemor International Panaacea Ltd. Azadirachtin 0.15% w/v 5 ml T7:Control(Pure Water) Control N/A Pure water N/A Altogether there were 21 plots where each plot was randomly selected without repetition. Total field size was 15.2*31.2m while each plot had dimensions of 4.5* 3.6 m. Inter plot and inter treatment distance were maintained 1meter. Similarly plant to plant distance and row to row distance was maintained 90 cm (90cm*90cm). Agronomic practices Preparation for Jholmal Jhomol-3 is hand-made biochemical compound having the property of bio-pesticide and bio-fertilizer. It is a chemical free compound made by mixing urine, water and locally sourced plant with insecticidal properties in the ratio 5:5:1 [ 28 ]. For the preparation of jhomol-3, We mixed 6 liters cow urine in 6 liters of water followed by adding 1.2 kg plant parts tabulated below. Plants used for the preparation of jholmol are collected in March 2022 from around the Bhairahawa, Ranigaun area and subjected to fermentation: Common Name Scientific Name Parts used Weight (gm) Neem Azadirachta indica Leaf 200 Asuro Justicia adhatoda Leaf 200 Tomato Solanum lycopersicum Leaf 200 Bojho Acorus calamus Root 200 Titepati (Mugwort) Artemisia vulgaris Leaf 200 Marigold Tagetes spp. Leaf 100 Lemon grass Cymbopogon citratus Leaf 100 Total weight 1200 The mixture thus prepared was left for 24 days to complete the fermentation with daily stirring, followed by straining out the clear jholmol liquid using muslin cloth. The clear liquid after filtration was used @ 200 ml/liter of water for spraying in the specified plot. Seed priming Anna 303 variety of summer squash, which is highly preferred by farmers, was hydro primed for 3 hours followed by incubation in water-soaked gunny bags for 24 hours. Seeds were thus sprouted and ready for sowing. Land preparation Land was ploughed using rotavator and made friable. After that treatment plots were made. For each plant, pit of dimension 60cm*60cm was dug and added with FYM @ 15 ton/ha, and basal dose of fertilizer @ 240:180:60 NPK kg/ha (NARC, 2021). Sowing and cultivation practices Sprouted seeds of Summer squash was directly sown on pit on 2nd April 2022. Irrigation was done twice a day till there was more than 90% germination, once a day for seedlings, once in two days in vegetative stage, once a day in flowering and fruiting stage. Irrigation was stopped during harvesting. Seven harvesting were taken altogether in the research period. Spraying of treatments Spraying of treatments were done three times 1st spraying was done on 21st April 2022, and successive spraying was done two more times on the interval of 20 days. 2nd spraying was done on 10th May 2022, and 3rd spraying was done on 29th May 2022. Sampling design and Procedure There were 20 plants/plot among which 5 sample plants plots excluding the border plants were randomly selected from the center in each plot and data of those sample plant was taken accordingly. Metrological data The total rainfall and relative humidity data of research period were obtained from the National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahawa as illustrated in Fig. 2 . Field data collection The five randomly selected plants inside each plot were tagged, and observation on the RPB population was taken from the tagged plants on all leaves, of plants in each plot. RPB population was counted one day before and 24 hours, 3, 5 and 7 days after application of insecticides. The observations on RPB population were recorded by visual counting methods. Number of beetles was counted on each plant and population of the beetle calculated as mean number of beetles per plant. The data thus obtained were taken into consideration to calculate the percentage reduction in the population which was determined by applying a correction factor given by Henderson and Tilton referring it to Abbott modification [ 35 ]. Percentage reduction in insect population over control = \(\:\left(1-\frac{Ta\text{*}Cb}{Tb\text{*}Ca}\right)\times\:100\) [ 35 ] Where; Ta = No. of insects after treatment, Tb = No. of insects before treatment. Ca = No. of insects in untreated control after treatment, Cb = No. of insects in untreated control before treatment. Also, total leaves on each sample plant per plot, and scrapped leaves by adult RPB were observed from visual method. Average of the data was taken using the following formulae. X = [Σ (X1 + X2+ ……. + Xn)]/N X = Average population of red pumpkin beetles in each replication of each treatment. X1 = Population of the beetle for 1 observation. X2 = Population of the beetle for 2 observations; Xn = Population of the beetle for last observation; N = Total number of observations of the crop. Similarly, percentage leaf infestation was calculated on per plant basis by counting total leaves and infested leaves per plant. Leaf infestation was calculated by following formula; Leaf infestation % = \(\:\frac{\text{Total\:number\:of\:leaves\:\--\:Number\:of\:infested\:leaves}}{\text{T}\text{o}\text{t}\text{a}\text{l}\:\text{n}\text{u}\text{m}\text{b}\text{e}\text{r}\:\text{o}\text{f}\:\text{l}\text{e}\text{a}\text{v}\text{e}\text{s}}\text{X}\:100\) [ 36 ] The crop was harvested when fruit reached attainable maturity. Fruit yield was calculated from the tagged plant inside each plot. Fruit yield per plot was converted into tons per hectare and yield data was statistically analyzed. Economic analysis Cost of treatments and input as well as selling price was noted such that; Labour charge = 3000/ha/day, Cost of seed = NRs. 450/10g, market price of zucchini = NRs. 25/kg, Cost of imidacloprid = NRs. 200/100ml, Cost of Neem extract = NRs. 250/100 ml, cost of fertilizers, FYM, vitamins also considered. Cost of Beauveria bassiana = NRs. 425/liter, Cost of Metarhizium anisopliae = NRs. 800/liter, Cost of Bacillus thuringiensis = NRs. 720/liter. Net return (NRs. /ha): This was calculated separately by subtracting the cost of treatment from additional income of respective treatment. Incremental Cost-Benefit ratio: This was calculated separately for each treatment as per the following formulae suggested by [ 37 ]. Incremental cost-benefit ratio (ICBR)= \(\:\frac{\text{C}\text{o}\text{s}\text{t}\:\text{o}\text{f}\:\text{c}\text{u}\text{l}\text{t}\text{i}\text{v}\text{a}\text{t}\text{i}\text{o}\text{n}}{\text{G}\text{r}\text{o}\text{s}\text{s}\:\text{r}\text{e}\text{t}\text{u}\text{r}\text{n}}\) Data analysis and statistical tools MS Excel was used for data entry, percentage reduction calculation, ICBR calculation, arc transformation & graphs formation. Average leaf damage, percentage reduction over control and Yield were subjected to one–way (ANOVA) & Duncan Multiple Range test (DMRT) in Agricolae package using R-stat (Version 4.1.2) at 5% level of significance. MS Word was used for bulleting records and for literature review, Arc GIS used for making a topographic map of study area. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Effect of treatments on percentage leaves infestation by RPB in zucchini plant After 1st spray of insecticides, minimum percentage leaf infestation was observed in imidacloprid (10.41%) followed by jholmol (11.41%) and neem seed kernel extract (11.52%) (Table 2). Similarly, after 2nd spray, minimum percentage leaf infestation was observed in imidacloprid (9.79%) followed by Neem seed kernel extract (9.83%) and jholmol (12.33%). After the 3rd spray imidacloprid showed minimum percentage leaf infestation (8.11%) followed by jholmal (10.10%) and neem seed kernel extract (10.22%). Table 2 on average shows minimum percentage leaf infestation by Red Pumpkin Beetle in imidacloprid (9.43%) treated plot followed by Neem seed kernel extract (10.52%), Jholmal (11.28%) and microbial pesticides. The highest percentage leaf infestation was seen in control (32.61%). The result showed that imidacloprid, jholmol and neem seed kernel extract were at equally significant level irrespective of their numerical percentage value. Hence, botanical pesticides were found significant, over limiting the percentage leaf infestation. Microbial pesticides in every spray of treatment weren’t effective enough in limiting the percentage leaf infestation as compared to botanical and chemical pesticides with percentage leaf infestation of 15.23% in Beauveria bassiana , 16.28% in Metarhizium anisopliae and 17.06% in Bacillus thuringiensis (Table 2). Graphical representation of result with Standard Error Mean (SEM) and significance level at 5% DMRT test is shown in Fig. 3 . Table 2. Effect of treatments on percentage leaves infestation by RPB in zucchini plant S.N. Treatments Percentage leaves infestation after spraying different insecticides After 1st spray After 2nd spray After 3rd spray Mean 1 Beauveria bassiana 15.98 bc 15.40 b 14.34 bcd 15.23 b 2 Metarhizium anisopliae 17.24 b 16.07 b 15.57 bc 16.29 b 3 Bacillus thuringiensis 15.36 bc 15.89 b 19.92 b 17.06 b 4 Imidacloprid 10.41 d 9.79 d 8.11 d 9.43 c 5 Jholmol 11.41 cd 12.33 c 10.10 cd 11.28 c 6 Neem seed kernel extract 11.52 cd 9.83 d 10.22 cd 10.52 c 7 Control(water) 31.78 a 34.49 a 31.58 a 32.61 a CV (%) 16.91 8.15 23.67 7.17 LSD 0.05 4.88*** 2.36*** 6.61*** 2.05*** F- value 21.41 22.37 14.14 40.32 Means with the same letter do not differ significantly at p = 0.05 by DMRT. CV = Coefficient of variation. LSD = least significant difference ***= Highly significant Effect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB population Percentage Reduction of RPB population after 1st spray In 24 hours after 1st spray of treatment, imidacloprid caused 55.16% reduction of RPB population over control followed by neem seed kernel extract (53.54%) and jholmal (46.60%). On 3rd day after the first spray neem seed kernel extract caused 89.18% reduction of RPB population over control followed by imidacloprid (81.10%) and jholmol (77.49%). On 5th day after the first spray, Imidacloprid caused 89.30% reduction of RPB population followed by jholmol (83.16%) and neem seed kernel extract (81.44%). A similar trend was seen after 7th day of the 1st spray. On an average highest efficiency of 79.35% reduction in RPB population was caused by imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract (77.80%) and jholmal (72.83%) after 1st spray whereas microbial pesticide Metarhizium anisopliae shows lowest percentage reduction (49.59%) in the RPB population (Table 3 ). Table 3 Effect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB after 1st spray S.N. Treatments Percentage reduction of RPB over control after 24 hours of spray 24 hours after spray 3rd days after the spray 5th days after the spray 7th days after the spray Mean 1 Beauveria bassiana 31.20 bc (33.96) 46.98 b (43.27) 60.90 c (51.30) 70.44 bc (57.06) 52.38 b (46.36) 2 Metarhizium anisopliae 29.64 bc (32.99) 42.71 b (40.81) 61.00 c (51.35) 65.00 c (53.73) 49.59 b (44.77) 3 Bacillus thuringiensis 21.01 c (27.28) 46.90 b (43.22) 64.83 bc (53.63) 64.75 c (53.58) 50.12 b (45.07) 4 Imidacloprid 55.16 a (47.96) 81.10 a (64.23) 89.30 a (70.91) 91.85 a (73.41) 79.35 a (62.97) 5 Jholmol 46.60 ab (43.05) 77.49 a (61.68) 83.16 a (65.77) 84.07 ab (66.48) 72.83 a (58.58) 6 Neem seed kernel extract 53.54 a (47.03) 89.18 a (70.80) 81.44 ab (64.48) 87.06 a (68.92) 77.80 a (61.89) 7 Control(water) - - - - - CV (%) 26.89 15.64 12.66 10.52 7.98 LSD 0.05 19.58 18.22 16.91 14.77 9.24 Means with the same letter do not differ significantly at p = 0.05 by DMRT. CV = Coefficient of variation. LSD = least significant difference. The figures in the parentheses are the angular transformed values. Percentage Reduction of RPB population after 2nd spray In 24 hrs after 2nd spray of treatment, imidacloprid caused 58.37% reduction of RPB population over control followed by neem seed kernel extract (56.23%) and jholmal (51.78%). On 3rd day after second spray imidacloprid caused 79.10% reduction of RPB population followed by Neem seed kernel extract 79.23% and jholmol 71.57%. Similarly, 5th day after 2nd spray imidacloprid caused 90.31% reduction of RPB population followed by jholmol (80.73%) and neem seed kernel extract (79.23%) whereas 7th day after 2nd spray neem seed kernel extract caused maximum (90.52%) percentage reduction of RPB followed by imidacloprid (89.11%) and jholmol (86.45%). A similar trend was seen after 3rd, 5th and 7th day of the 2nd spray. On average after 2nd spray of treatments maximum efficiency of 79.22% reduction in RPB population was caused by imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract (76.25%) and jholmal (72.10%) whereas microbial pesticide Beauveria bassiana shows lowest percentage reduction (54.10%) in the RPB population (Table 4). Table 4: Effect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB after 2nd spray S.N. Treatments Percentage reduction of RPB over control after 24 hours of spray 24 hours after spray 3rd days after the spray 5th days after the spray 7th days after the spray Mean 1 Beauveria bassiana 39.64 b (39.02) 51.98 d (46.13) 56.08 d (48.49) 72.21 b (58.19) 54.10 b (47.35) 2 Metarhizium anisopliae 37.91 b (38.00) 63.35 bc (52.74) 69.48 c (56.46) 69.51 b (56.48) 60.10 b (50.83) 3 Bacillus thuringiensis 37.82 b (37.95) 56.82 cd (48.92) 64.33 cd (53.33) 64.28 b (53.30) 55.81 b (48.34) 4 Imidacloprid 58.37 a (49.82) 79.10 a (62.80) 90.31 a (71.86) 89.11 a (70.73) 79.22 a (62.88) 5 Jholmol 51.78 ab (46.02) 71.57 ab (57.78) 80.73 b (63.96) 86.45 a (68.40) 72.10 a (58.12) 6 Neem seed kernel extract 56.23 ab (48.58) 76.69 a (61.13) 79.23 b (62.89) 90.52 a (72.07) 76.25 a (60.83) 7 Control(water) - - - - - CV (%) 21.68 9.39 6.55 6.79 7.20 LSD 0.05 18.52 11.37 8.74 9.71 8.69 Note: Means with the same letter do not differ significantly at p = 0.05 by DMRT. CV = Coefficient of variation. LSD = least significant difference. The figures in the parentheses are the angular transformed values. Percentage Reduction of RPB population after 3rd spray In 24 hrs after 3rd spray of treatment, jholmol caused 64.04% reduction of RPB population over control followed by imidacloprid (58.25%) and neem seed kernel extract (52.12%) while on 3rd, day after 3rd spraying imidacloprid (88.49%), neem seed kernel Extract (86.03%) and jholmol (73.63%) were at par regarding percentage reduction of insect population over control which was followed by entomopathogenic fungi (Table 5 ). Data from 5th day after spraying showed imidacloprid and neem seed kernel extract equally significant with the highest percentage reduction of 91.05% and 89.91% insect population over control respectively which was followed by jholmol (79.79%). On the 7th day after 3rd spraying imidacloprid had significantly highest percentage of insect population reduction (93.38%), followed by neem seed kernel extract (86.93%), jholmol (86.26%), Metarhizium anisopliae (78.40%), Bt (76.23%) and Beauveria bassiana (70.61%) respectively. On average highest efficiency of 82.79% reduction in RPB population was caused by imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract (78.75%) and jholmal (75.93%) after 3rd spray whereas microbial pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis showed lowest percentage reduction (57.94%) in the RPB population (Table 5 ). Effectiveness of spray was maximum after 1st spray in imidacloprid, jholmol and neem seed kernel extract followed by 3rd spray while least in second spray (Fig. 4 ). While in case of entomopathogenic fungi 2nd spray was seen most effective against percentage reduction of insect population over control (Fig. 4 ). Table 5 Effect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB after 3rd spray S.N. Treatments Percentage reduction of RPB over control after 24 hours of spray 24 hours after spray 3rd days after the spray 5th days after the spray 7th days after the spray Mean 1 Beauveria bassiana 40.68 abc (39.63) 48.43 b (44.10) 75.24 b (60.16) 70.61 d (57.17) 58.74 b (50.03) 2 Metarhizium anisopliae 37.13 bc (37.54) 48.83 b (44.33) 75.33 b (60.22) 78.40 bcd (62.31) 59.92 b (50.72) 3 Bacillus thuringiensis 27.20 c (31.44) 56.92 b (48.98) 71.41 b (57.68) 76.23 cd (60.82) 57.94 b (49.57) 4 Imidacloprid 58.25 ab (49.75) 88.49 a (70.17) 91.05 a (72.59) 93.38 a (75.09) 82.79 a (65.49) 5 Jholmol 64.04 a (53.15) 73.63 a (59.10) 79.79 b (63.28) 86.26 abc (68.24) 75.93 a (60.62) 6 Neem seed kernel extract 52.12 abc (46.22) 86.03 a (68.05) 89.91 a (71.48) 86.93 ab (68.81) 78.75 a (62.55) 7 Control(water) - - - - - CV (%) 29.68 12.78 6.18 6.87 7.02 LSD 0.05 25.15 15.60 9.05 10.24 8.82 Note: Means with the same letter do not differ significantly at p = 0.05 by DMRT. CV = Coefficient of variation. LSD = least significant difference. The figures in the parentheses are the angular transformed values. Yield of summer squash plant From Table 6 , highest Zucchini yield (49.09 t/ha) was obtained in Neem seed kernel Extract treated plot (49.09 t/hac) followed by imidacloprid (47.01 t/ha) and Jholmol (38.83 t/ha) while lowest yield was obtained in control (25.19 t/ha). Microbial pesticides treated plot showed relatively lower yield compared to chemical and botanical pesticides as lower yield (29.86 t/ha) was obtained in Beauveria bassiana . Table 6 Effects of treatments on yield of summer squash plant S.N. Treatment Yield (t/ha) 1 Beauveria bassiana 29.86 cd 2 Metarhizium anisopliae 30.49 cd 3 Bacillus thuringiensis 33.16 bc 4 Imidacloprid 47.01 a 5 Jholmol 38.83 b 6 Neem seed kernel extract 49.09 a 7 Control (water) 25.19 d LSD (0.05) 6.63*** CV% 10.29 F-value 17.33 Grand mean 36.23 Note: CV = Coefficient of variation. LSD = least significant difference. Two alphabetical notations denote significant difference between the respective means, The columns represented by same letter(S) are not-significantly different among each other. ***= Highly significant (α = 0.001) Economics of treatments From Table 7 , with respect to the cost of production at foot note, lowest incremental cost benefit ratio (ICBR) was obtained in Neem seed kernel extract with a value of 1:2.50, followed by jholmol (1:2.74) and imidacloprid (1:2.75) while highest ICBR was obtained in microbial pesticide Beauveria bassiana treatment (1:0.99). The result shows no significant difference in ICBR in using botanical pesticides over chemical pesticides (Table 7 ). Table 7 Economics of different treatments used in summer squash plant S.N. Treatments Cost of Treatment (NRs. /ha) Yield (t/ha) Gross Return (NRs. /ha) Net Profit over control Incremental cost-benefit ratio (ICBR) 1 Beauveria bassiana 300760 29.86 597200 296440 1:0.99 2 Metarhizium anisopliae 290880 30.49 609800 318920 1:1.10 3 Bacillus thuringiensis 320500 33.16 663200 342700 1:1.07 4 Imidacloprid 250570 47.01 940200 689630 1:2.75 5 Jholmol 207600 38.83 776600 569000 1:2.74 6 Neem seed kernel extract 280800 49.09 981800 701000 1:2.50 7 Control (water) - 25.19 - - - Note: Labour charge = 3000/ha/day, Cost of seed = NRs. 450/10g, market price of zucchini = NRs.25/kg, Cost of imidacloprid = NRs. 200/100ml, Cost of Neem extract = 250/100ml, cost of fertilizers, FYM, vitamins also considered. Cost of Beauveria bassiana = NRs. 425/liter, Cost of Metarhizium anisopliae = NRs. 800/liter, Cost of Bacillus thuringiensis = NRs. 720/liter Discussion Different pesticides were treated in separate plots to manage RPB population in the research field. Beetle population, reduced population, leaf damage percentage and yield were calculated. Population and leaf infestation trends on different treatments are control > Bacillus > Metarhizium > Beauveria > jholmol > neem seed kernel extract > imidacloprid. Our research coincides with that of [ 38 ] who recorded a minimum number of RPB population and minimum leaf infestation on imidacloprid followed by azadirachtin and jholmol treatments which is in line with [ 8 , 39 ]. It is seen that minimum percentage leaf infestation was incurred in imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract and jholmol. [ 40 ] also found a significant decline in RPB populations and reduced leaf infestation in Cucurbits on Neem treatments. Reduced number of RPB population was observed in imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract and jholmol in almost all 3 spraying. Along with that [ 38 ] observed a reduced population of beneficial insects (honeybee, ladybird beetle, wasp) under an imidacloprid-treated plot which makes botanical pesticides safer options. The most prominent constituent of neem is Azadirachtin, which acts as an antifeedant, repellent, and repugnant agent against RPB and other cucurbits pests [ 41 ]. In our study, maximum yield (49.09 t/ha) was obtained in Neem seed kernel extract followed by imidacloprid treatment which is in line with [ 42 ] who concluded Neem extract treated plot produced higher yield and in turn more economic returns than the other insecticidal treatments. [ 43 ] reported least ICBR in Neem seed kernel extract treatment. Also, our research showed lowest incremental cost benefit ratio (ICBR) in Neem seed kernel extract treatment with a value of 1:2.50, followed by Jholmol (1:2.74) and imidacloprid (1:2.75) while highest ICBR was obtained in microbial pesticide Beauveria bassiana. The cost of treatment in Jholmol is the least and also acts as source of nutrients [ 44 ] which resulted in better plant performance, increased yield of cucurbits and incurred benefits. Reduction in RPB population and reduced damage percentage up to 70% in cucurbits was observed by [ 45 ] on application of B. bassiana @3gm/liter of water which gave better performance than M. anisopliae . Shelf life of biological microorganisms ( Beauveria sp. and Metarhizium sp. ) is lower, which shows a reduction in vitality up to 80% when exposed on temperatures above 40˚C [ 46 ]. Our study showed maximum percentage leaf infestation and showed lowest RPB population reduction over control in microbial pesticides treated plots. Therefore, it can be traced that exposure to higher temperatures might be the reason for the lower performance of BMOs in our research. CONCLUSION The research was carried out to test the bio-efficacy of different pesticides on Red Pumpkin Beetle ( Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas) and its infestation assessment in summer squash plant for the effective management strategy of RPB. The research showed all the effects of chemical; microbial and botanical pesticides are highly significant over control. Among the pesticides used for the research, minimum percentage leaf infestation was observed in insecticide imidacloprid (9.43%) followed by botanical pesticide jholmol (10.52%) and neem seed kernel extract (11.28%). Microbial pesticides showed less effective action in reducing the percentage leaf infestation. The result indicated that neem seed-kernel extract, jholmol, and imidacloprid were at par and minimum percentage leaf infestation occurred and were equally significant for RPB population reduction followed by microbial pesticides. The yield of summer squash was significantly high with neem seed-kernel extract (49.09 t/ha) and imidacloprid (47.01 t/ha) application, while lowest in control (25.19 t/ha). The lowest ICBR was obtained in imidacloprid (1:2.75), followed by jholmol (1: 2.74) and need seed-kernel extract (1:2.50). Hence our study concludes that the most effective botanical pesticides are neem seed kernel extract and jholmol in controlling RPB infestation which can be used as a substitute of chemical pesticides, that aid to positive economic and environmental aspects. Declarations ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE Not applicable. This study did not involve human participants or animals requiring ethical approval. CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION Not applicable. This manuscript does not contain any individual person’s data, images, or other identifiable information. COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Funding acquisition- No funding Investigation-All author equally contributed Methodology-All author equally contributed Project administration- All author equally contibuted Resources-All author equally contributed G.N and Kalyani B - Software D.K - Supervision G.N, Kalyani B, P.K.T, Kalyan B, S.S - Validation Kalani B and G.N - Visualization Writing – original draft- Gaurab Neupane, Kalyani Bhandari, Pradeep Kumar Teli, Kalyan Bhattarai, Swastika Sharma Writing – review & editing-Dipak Khanal, Gaurab Neupabe, Kalyani Bhandari, Swastika Sharma Author Contribution D.K, G.N, K.B - ConceptualizationKalyani B, G.N, S.S - Data curationG.N and Kalyani B - Formal analysisFunding acquisition- No fundingInvestigation-All author equally contributedMethodology-All author equally contributedProject administration- All author equally contibutedResources-All author equally contributedG.N and Kalyani B - SoftwareD.K - SupervisionG.N, Kalyani B, P.K.T, Kalyan B, S.S - ValidationKalani B and G.N - VisualizationWriting – original draft- Gaurab Neupane, Kalyani Bhandari, Pradeep Kumar Teli, Kalyan Bhattarai, Swastika SharmaWriting – review & editing-Dipak Khanal, Gaurab Neupabe, Kalyani Bhandari, Swastika Sharma ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors thank the Paklihawa Campus, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Tribhuvan University, Rupandehi, Nepal, for providing the experimental fields and tools during field operations. 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17:01:42","extension":"html","order_by":17,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":157879,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7901921/v1/e8be3a4abb8e2a38532f8c71.html"},{"id":95404702,"identity":"796fb6f0-9dd1-44c1-81d6-b2aabf166233","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-07 17:01:42","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":89897,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eGIS map showing study area\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Picture1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7901921/v1/32b2de3d4a3c21043fc94c4c.jpg"},{"id":95404704,"identity":"3e1948c5-378d-4c6b-a80d-f732a31fa9bd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-07 17:01:42","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":71712,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAgrometeorological feature of Experimental site during zucchini growing season [34]\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Picture2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7901921/v1/a702938bea498be6b9039c03.png"},{"id":95526637,"identity":"60d3182b-a535-4ba7-8d5e-bbcce5312f0e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-10 10:07:28","extension":"jpg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":239722,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eEffects of different treatments on percentage leaf infestation during different sprayings\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Picture3.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7901921/v1/4382080d346e0e44bc40e48e.jpg"},{"id":95404717,"identity":"9602708a-7486-4a76-943d-cb06afb74294","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-07 17:01:42","extension":"jpg","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":209387,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eEffect of different treatments of insecticides in percentage reduction in RPB over control\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Picture4.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7901921/v1/00cf7ae3372e9b993d16c928.jpg"},{"id":96918033,"identity":"6c2b5d7d-9334-44e9-b2ea-bac7adf6662c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-27 14:11:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1887502,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7901921/v1/4327b869-79ee-4151-bce3-c09ffd7878a1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eEfficacy of Different Pesticides Against Red Pumpkin Beetle (Aulacophora Foveicollis Lucas) in Summer Squash Plant\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"INTRODUCTION","content":"\u003cp\u003eZucchini (\u003cem\u003eCucurbita pepo\u003c/em\u003e L.) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family and is a highly polymorphic vegetable grown in tropical and subtropical environments during the summer and is harvested when the fruits are physiologically immature [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]. Due to the higher market value of summer squash, farmers are encouraged to grow summer squash on a huge scale but at the same time losses due to disease and insect infestation discourage them. There are many major and minor insects like beetles, aphids, thrips and whiteflies that cause threats to the production of summer squash and one of the major insect is red pumpkin beetle (\u003cem\u003eAulacophora foveicollis\u003c/em\u003e Lucas), which causes a 30\u0026ndash;100% yield loss [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. The polyphagous red pumpkin beetle is known to attack more than 81 plant species [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. Sometimes crops need to be resown 3 to 4 times causing greater loss in seed [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e]. Both the larval and adult stages are harmful to the crop, causing significant damage to practically all cucurbits including seedlings, young and tender leaves, and blossoms [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e]. Losses by red pumpkin beetles are higher during seedling stage i.e. 35\u0026ndash;75% and it declines as the canopy size of plant increases [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e] found RPB attack right after seedling germination and slows down the growth of plant, in severe cases it causes 30\u0026ndash;100% yield loss in cucurbits.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor pest management most of the vegetable producers have depend upon synthetic pesticides [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e]. However, the unintentional use of synthetic insecticides has resulted in the development of insect resistance, pest population resurgence, the outbreak of secondary pests, unfavorable effects on non-target organisms, and major environmental damage [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e]. The effect of synthetic pesticide and its residue have emphasized the need for the use of alternative pest control tactics and biodegradable pesticides with greater selectivity [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBiorational pesticides refer to pesticides of natural or biotechnological origin that are effective against the target insect but are less hazardous to natural enemies and do not persist in the environment and are safer to handle [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e]. Microbials insecticides (viruses, bacteria, fungus, and protozoa), botanical extracts, and bio chemicals (semi chemicals) are the three basic categories of bio-rational pesticides [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBotanical pesticides are derived from plants or plant extracts, environmentally safer, unique with novel mode of action and rich source of biologically active compounds [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e]. Complex mixture of active compound made from crude plant extract shows greater overall bioactivity compared to individual constituents [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e]. These pesticides harness natural compounds (phytochemicals) found in plants to repel, deter, or kill pests and often disrupt pest behavior, feeding, and reproduction. Botanical pesticides can often be easily produced by farmers and small-scale industries, indigenous plant materials and hazard free in comparison to chemical pesticides [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBiological Microorganisms (BMOs) include living microbes (bacteria, fungi, nematodes, viruses, and protozoa) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. The effect by microbial entomopathogens occurs by minor invasion through the integument or gut of the insect, followed by multiplication of the pathogen resulting in the death of the host, e.g., insects [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]. Though, botanical and biological control are economically sound and environmentally friendly but are not commonly practiced in our country. Research should be conducted looking the economic, edaphic and environmental factors of Nepal. There should be proper relation between researchers, extensionist and farmers to develop effective alternative methods such as botanicals and bio-pesticides for efficient control. Globally, 2\u0026nbsp;million tons of agrochemicals including pesticides are used to enhance productivity and reduce the food insecurity [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e], which have caused soil degradation, deterioration of agro-ecosystem, ground water contamination, potential threat to animal and human health and safety, residue problem and pesticide resistance [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e]. Biological pesticides having nature of low toxicity, target specificity and environmentally safe are being used these days. However, effective use of biopesticides demands understanding of a great deal about managing pests especially by the end users [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Red Pumpkin Beetle, \u003cem\u003eAulacophora foveicollis\u003c/em\u003e is widely distributed in different parts of the world, especially in Asia, Africa, Australia and South Europe [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e]. This insect is widely distributed all over the South-East Asia as well as the Mediterranean region towards the west and Australia in the east [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. The pests are active from March to October, though the peak period of activity is between April to June [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. Both larval and adult stages of red pumpkin beetle are injurious to the crops.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEntomopathogenic fungi could directly penetrate the cuticles of insect pests by secreting a few proteases and chitinases under the function of turgor pressure [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e]. \u003cem\u003eB. bassiana\u003c/em\u003e is applied in the form of conidia or mycelium which sporulates after application and it infects the host by penetrating from cuticle, reaching hemolymph, producing toxins and growing by nutrients present in the haemocoel [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]. Most popular and widely used bacteria for pest control is \u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e (Bt) which is gram positive, spore-forming soil bacteria that produces parasporal, proteinaceous, crystal inclusion bodies during sporulation and are pathogenic to certain insect [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe seed kernel extract extracted from the neem tree (\u003cem\u003eAzadirachta indica\u003c/em\u003e) contains complex constituents that are insecticidal. Of these, azadirachtin (Aza) is known to cause a range of effects on several species of insects. The physical properties of the extract show that the extract possess the basic properties of a good insect pest repellent [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e] reported that neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) was found most effective in reducing the insect population. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e] also reported that neem biopesticides are systemic in nature and provide long term protection to plants against pests thereby promoting pollinator insects, bees and other useful organisms.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJholmal is a homemade organic fertilizer and botanical pesticide prepared by mixing and fermenting in a defined ratio of locally available materials such as animal urine, water, beneficial microbes, farmyard manure, and leaves with a pungent odour and taste [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e]. Jholmal is based on a local traditional practice, and its use in the agricultural farmlands\u0026rsquo; safeguards both the environment and human [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e]. Jholmol prepared by using different pesticidal values, preferably having a pungent smell like Neem along with cow urine, dung, etc. is considered as a natural bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticide [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e]. Nepalese farmers have been using these botanical pesticides and jholmol was considered as best alternative of chemical pesticide [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e]. So, it seems relevant to carry out research to find the effectiveness of jholmol in this local setting.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid (1-((6-chloro-3-pyridinyl) methyl)-\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e-nitro-2-imidazolidnimine) is a neonicotinoid insecticide, colorless crystal belonging to the chloronitroguanidine compounds, and has a melting point of 143.8\u0026deg;C [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e]. Imidacloprid is a polar compound, chemically stable under neutral and acidic conditions, but decomposes gradually in alkaline solutions [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e]. While imidacloprid is found effective at controlling pests and has been widely adopted in agriculture, it has also raised concerns about its potential negative impacts on non-target organisms, including pollinators like bees and other beneficial insects like butterflies, hover fly etc. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"MATERIALS AND METHODS","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eSite selection\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe research was carried out in Nepal, Siddharthanagar Municipality, Paklihawa Campus, Horticulture farm, in the month of March-April (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). The experimental area was situated in the humid sub-tropical zone characterized by four distinct seasons, the rainy or monsoon, the winter, the spring and the summer season. During this period of year, the incidence of Red Pumpkin beetle was generally high in cucurbits, so our research here was based on evaluating the available insecticides (Synthetic and Biological) against the RPB.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResearch design and layout\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResearch was carried out in Random Complete Block Design (RCBD) research layout. All the treatments were randomized in three replications. There were seven treatments and three replications of each treatment. Among seven treatments, three were entomopathogenic fungi viz., \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e, two were botanical pesticides viz., jholmol and neem seed kernel extract, one was chemical pesticide viz., imidacloprid and pure water was used as control as described in (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDetails of treatments used in research\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreatments\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrade Name\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eManufacturer\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eActive ingredients\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDose (per litre of water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT1:\u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDaman\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eInternational Panaacea Ltd.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eB. bassiana\u003c/em\u003e spores 2% A.S. CFU count:2*10\u003csup\u003e8\u003c/sup\u003e per ml\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 ml\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT2:\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraramvamet-jen\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraramva biotech\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e CFU@ 1* 10\u003csup\u003e9\u003c/sup\u003e spores/ml\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 ml\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT3:\u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMahastra\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eInternational Panaacea Ltd.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eB. thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e var. kurstaki Delta endotoxin 0.5% (WP)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 g\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT4: Imidacloprid\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePremida\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrestige Agrochemical\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid 17.8 SL\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2ml\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT5: Jholmol-3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelf-made\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBotanical extracts\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200ml\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT6:Neem seed kernel extract\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMultinemor\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eInternational Panaacea Ltd.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAzadirachtin 0.15% w/v\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 ml\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT7:Control(Pure Water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eControl\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eN/A\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePure water\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eN/A\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAltogether there were 21 plots where each plot was randomly selected without repetition. Total field size was 15.2*31.2m while each plot had dimensions of 4.5* 3.6 m. Inter plot and inter treatment distance were maintained 1meter. Similarly plant to plant distance and row to row distance was maintained 90 cm (90cm*90cm).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgronomic practices\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreparation for Jholmal\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJhomol-3 is hand-made biochemical compound having the property of bio-pesticide and bio-fertilizer. It is a chemical free compound made by mixing urine, water and locally sourced plant with insecticidal properties in the ratio 5:5:1 [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e]. For the preparation of jhomol-3, We mixed 6 liters cow urine in 6 liters of water followed by adding 1.2 kg plant parts tabulated below. Plants used for the preparation of jholmol are collected in March 2022 from around the Bhairahawa, Ranigaun area and subjected to fermentation:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"No\" id=\"Taba\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCommon Name\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eScientific Name\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eParts used\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWeight (gm)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeem\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAzadirachta indica\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAsuro\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJusticia adhatoda\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTomato\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSolanum lycopersicum\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBojho\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcorus calamus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRoot\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTitepati (Mugwort)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eArtemisia vulgaris\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarigold\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTagetes spp.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLemon grass\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCymbopogon citratus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTotal weight\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mixture thus prepared was left for 24 days to complete the fermentation with daily stirring, followed by straining out the clear jholmol liquid using muslin cloth. The clear liquid after filtration was used @ 200 ml/liter of water for spraying in the specified plot.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeed priming\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnna 303 variety of summer squash, which is highly preferred by farmers, was hydro primed for 3 hours followed by incubation in water-soaked gunny bags for 24 hours. Seeds were thus sprouted and ready for sowing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLand preparation\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLand was ploughed using rotavator and made friable. After that treatment plots were made. For each plant, pit of dimension 60cm*60cm was dug and added with FYM @ 15 ton/ha, and basal dose of fertilizer @ 240:180:60 NPK kg/ha (NARC, 2021).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSowing and cultivation practices\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSprouted seeds of Summer squash was directly sown on pit on 2nd April 2022. Irrigation was done twice a day till there was more than 90% germination, once a day for seedlings, once in two days in vegetative stage, once a day in flowering and fruiting stage. Irrigation was stopped during harvesting. Seven harvesting were taken altogether in the research period.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpraying of treatments\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpraying of treatments were done three times 1st spraying was done on 21st April 2022, and successive spraying was done two more times on the interval of 20 days. 2nd spraying was done on 10th May 2022, and 3rd spraying was done on 29th May 2022.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSampling design and Procedure\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere were 20 plants/plot among which 5 sample plants plots excluding the border plants were randomly selected from the center in each plot and data of those sample plant was taken accordingly.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMetrological data\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe total rainfall and relative humidity data of research period were obtained from the National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahawa as illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eField data collection\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe five randomly selected plants inside each plot were tagged, and observation on the RPB population was taken from the tagged plants on all leaves, of plants in each plot. RPB population was counted one day before and 24 hours, 3, 5 and 7 days after application of insecticides. The observations on RPB population were recorded by visual counting methods. Number of beetles was counted on each plant and population of the beetle calculated as mean number of beetles per plant. The data thus obtained were taken into consideration to calculate the percentage reduction in the population which was determined by applying a correction factor given by Henderson and Tilton referring it to Abbott modification [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage reduction in insect population over control = \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\left(1-\\frac{Ta\\text{*}Cb}{Tb\\text{*}Ca}\\right)\\times\\:100\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhere; Ta\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;No. of insects after treatment, Tb\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;No. of insects before treatment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCa\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;No. of insects in untreated control after treatment,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCb\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;No. of insects in untreated control before treatment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlso, total leaves on each sample plant per plot, and scrapped leaves by adult RPB were observed from visual method. Average of the data was taken using the following formulae.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eX = [Σ (X1\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;X2+ \u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;. + Xn)]/N\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eX\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Average population of red pumpkin beetles in each replication of each treatment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eX1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Population of the beetle for 1 observation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eX2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Population of the beetle for 2 observations;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eXn\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Population of the beetle for last observation;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eN\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Total number of observations of the crop.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSimilarly, percentage leaf infestation was calculated on per plant basis by counting total leaves and infested leaves per plant. Leaf infestation was calculated by following formula;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf infestation % = \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\frac{\\text{Total\\:number\\:of\\:leaves\\:\\--\\:Number\\:of\\:infested\\:leaves}}{\\text{T}\\text{o}\\text{t}\\text{a}\\text{l}\\:\\text{n}\\text{u}\\text{m}\\text{b}\\text{e}\\text{r}\\:\\text{o}\\text{f}\\:\\text{l}\\text{e}\\text{a}\\text{v}\\text{e}\\text{s}}\\text{X}\\:100\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe crop was harvested when fruit reached attainable maturity. Fruit yield was calculated from the tagged plant inside each plot. Fruit yield per plot was converted into tons per hectare and yield data was statistically analyzed.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEconomic analysis\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCost of treatments and input as well as selling price was noted such that; Labour charge\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3000/ha/day, Cost of seed\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 450/10g, market price of zucchini\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 25/kg, Cost of imidacloprid\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 200/100ml, Cost of Neem extract\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 250/100 ml, cost of fertilizers, FYM, vitamins also considered. Cost of \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 425/liter, Cost of \u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 800/liter, Cost of \u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 720/liter.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNet return (NRs. /ha): This was calculated separately by subtracting the cost of treatment from additional income of respective treatment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncremental Cost-Benefit ratio: This was calculated separately for each treatment as per the following formulae suggested by [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncremental cost-benefit ratio (ICBR)= \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\frac{\\text{C}\\text{o}\\text{s}\\text{t}\\:\\text{o}\\text{f}\\:\\text{c}\\text{u}\\text{l}\\text{t}\\text{i}\\text{v}\\text{a}\\text{t}\\text{i}\\text{o}\\text{n}}{\\text{G}\\text{r}\\text{o}\\text{s}\\text{s}\\:\\text{r}\\text{e}\\text{t}\\text{u}\\text{r}\\text{n}}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eData analysis and statistical tools\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMS Excel was used for data entry, percentage reduction calculation, ICBR calculation, arc transformation \u0026amp; graphs formation. Average leaf damage, percentage reduction over control and Yield were subjected to one\u0026ndash;way (ANOVA) \u0026amp; Duncan Multiple Range test (DMRT) in Agricolae package using R-stat (Version 4.1.2) at 5% level of significance. MS Word was used for bulleting records and for literature review, Arc GIS used for making a topographic map of study area.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"RESULTS AND DISCUSSION","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eEffect of treatments on percentage leaves infestation by RPB in zucchini plant\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 1st spray of insecticides, minimum percentage leaf infestation was observed in imidacloprid (10.41%) followed by jholmol (11.41%) and neem seed kernel extract (11.52%) (Table\u0026nbsp;2). Similarly, after 2nd spray, minimum percentage leaf infestation was observed in imidacloprid (9.79%) followed by Neem seed kernel extract (9.83%) and jholmol (12.33%). After the 3rd spray imidacloprid showed minimum percentage leaf infestation (8.11%) followed by jholmal (10.10%) and neem seed kernel extract (10.22%). Table\u0026nbsp;2 on average shows minimum percentage leaf infestation by Red Pumpkin Beetle in imidacloprid (9.43%) treated plot followed by Neem seed kernel extract (10.52%), Jholmal (11.28%) and microbial pesticides. The highest percentage leaf infestation was seen in control (32.61%). The result showed that imidacloprid, jholmol and neem seed kernel extract were at equally significant level irrespective of their numerical percentage value. Hence, botanical pesticides were found significant, over limiting the percentage leaf infestation. Microbial pesticides in every spray of treatment weren\u0026rsquo;t effective enough in limiting the percentage leaf infestation as compared to botanical and chemical pesticides with percentage leaf infestation of 15.23% in \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e, 16.28% in \u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e and 17.06% in \u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e (Table\u0026nbsp;2). Graphical representation of result with Standard Error Mean (SEM) and significance level at 5% DMRT test is shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"No\" id=\"Tabb\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"7\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;2. Effect of treatments on percentage leaves infestation by RPB in zucchini plant\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.N.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreatments\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage leaves infestation after spraying different insecticides\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 1st spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 2nd spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 3rd spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.98\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.40\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.34\u003csup\u003ebcd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.23\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17.24\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.07\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.57\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.29\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.36\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.89\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19.92\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17.06\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.41\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.79\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.11\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.43\u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJholmol\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11.41\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.33\u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.10\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11.28\u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeem seed kernel extract\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11.52\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.83\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.22\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.52\u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eControl(water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31.78\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e34.49\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31.58\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e32.61\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCV (%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.91\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.15\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e23.67\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.17\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLSD\u003csub\u003e0.05\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.88***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.36***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.61***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.05***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF- value\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.41\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e22.37\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40.32\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeans with the same letter do not differ significantly at p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05 by DMRT. CV\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Coefficient of variation. LSD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;least significant difference\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e***= Highly significant\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEffect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB population\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePercentage Reduction of RPB population after 1st spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 24 hours after 1st spray of treatment, imidacloprid caused 55.16% reduction of RPB population over control followed by neem seed kernel extract (53.54%) and jholmal (46.60%). On 3rd day after the first spray neem seed kernel extract caused 89.18% reduction of RPB population over control followed by imidacloprid (81.10%) and jholmol (77.49%).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn 5th day after the first spray, Imidacloprid caused 89.30% reduction of RPB population followed by jholmol (83.16%) and neem seed kernel extract (81.44%). A similar trend was seen after 7th day of the 1st spray. On an average highest efficiency of 79.35% reduction in RPB population was caused by imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract (77.80%) and jholmal (72.83%) after 1st spray whereas microbial pesticide \u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e shows lowest percentage reduction (49.59%) in the RPB population (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEffect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB after 1st spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.N.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreatments\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage reduction of RPB over control after 24 hours of spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24 hours after spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3rd days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5th days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7th days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31.20\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(33.96)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46.98 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(43.27)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60.90 \u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(51.30)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e70.44\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(57.06)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e52.38\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(46.36)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e29.64\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(32.99)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e42.71 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(40.81)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e61.00 \u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(51.35)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e65.00 \u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(53.73)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e49.59\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(44.77)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.01\u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(27.28)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46.90 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(43.22)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e64.83\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(53.63)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e64.75 \u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(53.58)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50.12\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(45.07)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e55.16\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(47.96)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e81.10 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(64.23)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e89.30 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(70.91)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e91.85 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(73.41)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e79.35\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(62.97)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJholmol\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46.60\u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(43.05)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e77.49 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(61.68)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e83.16 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(65.77)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e84.07 \u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(66.48)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e72.83\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(58.58)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeem seed kernel extract\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53.54\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(47.03)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e89.18 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(70.80)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e81.44 \u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(64.48)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e87.06 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(68.92)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e77.80\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(61.89)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eControl(water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCV (%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.89\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.64\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.66\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.52\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.98\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLSD\u003csub\u003e0.05\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19.58\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18.22\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.91\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.77\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.24\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"7\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeans with the same letter do not differ significantly at p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05 by DMRT. CV\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Coefficient of variation. LSD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;least significant difference. The figures in the parentheses are the angular transformed values.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage Reduction of RPB population after 2nd spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 24 hrs after 2nd spray of treatment, imidacloprid caused 58.37% reduction of RPB population over control followed by neem seed kernel extract (56.23%) and jholmal (51.78%). On 3rd day after second spray imidacloprid caused 79.10% reduction of RPB population followed by Neem seed kernel extract 79.23% and jholmol 71.57%. Similarly, 5th day after 2nd spray imidacloprid caused 90.31% reduction of RPB population followed by jholmol (80.73%) and neem seed kernel extract (79.23%) whereas 7th day after 2nd spray neem seed kernel extract caused maximum (90.52%) percentage reduction of RPB followed by imidacloprid (89.11%) and jholmol (86.45%). A similar trend was seen after 3rd, 5th and 7th day of the 2nd spray. On average after 2nd spray of treatments maximum efficiency of 79.22% reduction in RPB population was caused by imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract (76.25%) and jholmal (72.10%) whereas microbial pesticide \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e shows lowest percentage reduction (54.10%) in the RPB population (Table\u0026nbsp;4).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"No\" id=\"Tabc\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"12\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"10\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;4: Effect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB after 2nd spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.N.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreatments\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage reduction of RPB over control after 24 hours of spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24 hours after spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3rd days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5th days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7th days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e39.64\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(39.02)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e51.98\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(46.13)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56.08\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(48.49)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e72.21\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(58.19)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e54.10\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(47.35)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e37.91\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(38.00)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e63.35\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(52.74)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e69.48 \u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(56.46)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e69.51 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(56.48)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60.10\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(50.83)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e37.82\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(37.95)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56.82\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(48.92)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e64.33\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(53.33)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e64.28 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(53.30)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e55.81\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(48.34)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.37\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(49.82)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e79.10\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(62.80)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e90.31\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(71.86)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e89.11 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(70.73)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e79.22\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(62.88)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJholmol\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e51.78\u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(46.02)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e71.57\u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(57.78)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e80.73 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(63.96)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e86.45 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(68.40)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e72.10\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(58.12)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeem seed kernel extract\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56.23\u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(48.58)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e76.69\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(61.13)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e79.23 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(62.89)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e90.52 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(72.07)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e76.25\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(60.83)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eControl(water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCV (%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.68\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.39\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.55\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.79\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLSD\u003csub\u003e0.05\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18.52\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11.37\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.74\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.71\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.69\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"11\" nameend=\"c11\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNote: Means with the same letter do not differ significantly at p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05 by DMRT. CV\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Coefficient of variation. LSD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;least significant difference. The figures in the parentheses are the angular transformed values.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage Reduction of RPB population after 3rd spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 24 hrs after 3rd spray of treatment, jholmol caused 64.04% reduction of RPB population over control followed by imidacloprid (58.25%) and neem seed kernel extract (52.12%) while on 3rd, day after 3rd spraying imidacloprid (88.49%), neem seed kernel Extract (86.03%) and jholmol (73.63%) were at par regarding percentage reduction of insect population over control which was followed by entomopathogenic fungi (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eData from 5th day after spraying showed imidacloprid and neem seed kernel extract equally significant with the highest percentage reduction of 91.05% and 89.91% insect population over control respectively which was followed by jholmol (79.79%).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the 7th day after 3rd spraying imidacloprid had significantly highest percentage of insect population reduction (93.38%), followed by neem seed kernel extract (86.93%), jholmol (86.26%), \u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e (78.40%), Bt (76.23%) and \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e (70.61%) respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn average highest efficiency of 82.79% reduction in RPB population was caused by imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract (78.75%) and jholmal (75.93%) after 3rd spray whereas microbial pesticide \u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e showed lowest percentage reduction (57.94%) in the RPB population (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEffectiveness of spray was maximum after 1st spray in imidacloprid, jholmol and neem seed kernel extract followed by 3rd spray while least in second spray (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). While in case of entomopathogenic fungi 2nd spray was seen most effective against percentage reduction of insect population over control (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e Effect of treatments on percentage reduction of RPB after 3rd spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.N.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreatments\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage reduction of RPB over control after 24 hours of spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24 hours after spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3rd days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5th days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7th days after the spray\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40.68\u003csup\u003eabc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(39.63)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e48.43\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(44.10)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e75.24 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(60.16)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e70.61\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(57.17)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.74 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(50.03)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e37.13\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(37.54)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e48.83 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(44.33)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e75.33 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(60.22)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e78.40\u003csup\u003ebcd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(62.31)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e59.92 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(50.72)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e27.20\u003csup\u003ec\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(31.44)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56.92 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(48.98)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e71.41 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(57.68)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e76.23\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(60.82)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e57.94 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(49.57)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.25\u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(49.75)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e88.49 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(70.17)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e91.05 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(72.59)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e93.38 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(75.09)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e82.79 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(65.49)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJholmol\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e64.04\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(53.15)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e73.63 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(59.10)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e79.79 \u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(63.28)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e86.26\u003csup\u003eabc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(68.24)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e75.93 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(60.62)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeem seed kernel extract\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e52.12\u003csup\u003eabc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(46.22)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e86.03 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(68.05)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e89.91 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(71.48)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e86.93\u003csup\u003eab\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(68.81)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e78.75 \u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(62.55)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eControl(water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCV (%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e29.68\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.78\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.87\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.02\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLSD\u003csub\u003e0.05\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25.15\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15.60\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.05\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.24\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.82\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"10\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNote: Means with the same letter do not differ significantly at p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05 by DMRT. CV\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Coefficient of variation. LSD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;least significant difference. The figures in the parentheses are the angular transformed values.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eYield of summer squash plant\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, highest Zucchini yield (49.09 t/ha) was obtained in Neem seed kernel Extract treated plot (49.09 t/hac) followed by imidacloprid (47.01 t/ha) and Jholmol (38.83 t/ha) while lowest yield was obtained in control (25.19 t/ha). Microbial pesticides treated plot showed relatively lower yield compared to chemical and botanical pesticides as lower yield (29.86 t/ha) was obtained in \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEffects of treatments on yield of summer squash plant\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.N.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreatment\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYield (t/ha)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e29.86\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.49\u003csup\u003ecd\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33.16\u003csup\u003ebc\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e47.01\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJholmol\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e38.83\u003csup\u003eb\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeem seed kernel extract\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e49.09\u003csup\u003ea\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eControl (water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25.19\u003csup\u003ed\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLSD (0.05)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.63***\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCV%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.29\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF-value\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17.33\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrand mean\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36.23\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNote: CV\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Coefficient of variation. LSD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;least significant difference. Two alphabetical notations denote significant difference between the respective means, The columns represented by same letter(S) are not-significantly different among each other. ***= Highly significant (α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.001)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eEconomics of treatments\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e, with respect to the cost of production at foot note, lowest incremental cost benefit ratio (ICBR) was obtained in Neem seed kernel extract with a value of 1:2.50, followed by jholmol (1:2.74) and imidacloprid (1:2.75) while highest ICBR was obtained in microbial pesticide \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e treatment (1:0.99). The result shows no significant difference in ICBR in using botanical pesticides over chemical pesticides (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 7\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEconomics of different treatments used in summer squash plant\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eS.N.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreatments\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCost of Treatment\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(NRs. /ha)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYield\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(t/ha)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGross\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReturn\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(NRs. /ha)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNet Profit over control\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncremental cost-benefit ratio (ICBR)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e300760\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e29.86\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e597200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e296440\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1:0.99\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e290880\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.49\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e609800\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e318920\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1:1.10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e320500\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33.16\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e663200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e342700\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1:1.07\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eImidacloprid\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e250570\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e47.01\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e940200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e689630\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1:2.75\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJholmol\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e207600\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e38.83\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e776600\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e569000\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1:2.74\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeem seed kernel extract\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e280800\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e49.09\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e981800\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e701000\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1:2.50\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eControl (water)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25.19\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"8\"\u003eNote: Labour charge\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3000/ha/day, Cost of seed\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 450/10g, market price of zucchini\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs.25/kg, Cost of imidacloprid\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 200/100ml, Cost of Neem extract\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;250/100ml, cost of fertilizers, FYM, vitamins also considered. Cost of \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 425/liter, Cost of \u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 800/liter, Cost of \u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;NRs. 720/liter\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eDifferent pesticides were treated in separate plots to manage RPB population in the research field. Beetle population, reduced population, leaf damage percentage and yield were calculated. Population and leaf infestation trends on different treatments are control\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003eBacillus\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003eMetarhizium\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003eBeauveria\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;jholmol\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;neem seed kernel extract\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;imidacloprid. Our research coincides with that of [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e] who recorded a minimum number of RPB population and minimum leaf infestation on imidacloprid followed by azadirachtin and jholmol treatments which is in line with [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003e]. It is seen that minimum percentage leaf infestation was incurred in imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract and jholmol. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e40\u003c/span\u003e] also found a significant decline in RPB populations and reduced leaf infestation in Cucurbits on Neem treatments. Reduced number of RPB population was observed in imidacloprid followed by neem seed kernel extract and jholmol in almost all 3 spraying. Along with that [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e] observed a reduced population of beneficial insects (honeybee, ladybird beetle, wasp) under an imidacloprid-treated plot which makes botanical pesticides safer options.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe most prominent constituent of neem is Azadirachtin, which acts as an antifeedant, repellent, and repugnant agent against RPB and other cucurbits pests [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003e]. In our study, maximum yield (49.09 t/ha) was obtained in Neem seed kernel extract followed by imidacloprid treatment which is in line with [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e42\u003c/span\u003e] who concluded Neem extract treated plot produced higher yield and in turn more economic returns than the other insecticidal treatments.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e43\u003c/span\u003e] reported least ICBR in Neem seed kernel extract treatment. Also, our research showed lowest incremental cost benefit ratio (ICBR) in Neem seed kernel extract treatment with a value of 1:2.50, followed by Jholmol (1:2.74) and imidacloprid (1:2.75) while highest ICBR was obtained in microbial pesticide \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana.\u003c/em\u003e The cost of treatment in Jholmol is the least and also acts as source of nutrients [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e44\u003c/span\u003e] which resulted in better plant performance, increased yield of cucurbits and incurred benefits.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReduction in RPB population and reduced damage percentage up to 70% in cucurbits was observed by [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e45\u003c/span\u003e] on application of \u003cem\u003eB. bassiana\u003c/em\u003e @3gm/liter of water which gave better performance than \u003cem\u003eM. anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e. Shelf life of biological microorganisms (\u003cem\u003eBeauveria sp.\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMetarhizium sp.\u003c/em\u003e) is lower, which shows a reduction in vitality up to 80% when exposed on temperatures above 40˚C [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e46\u003c/span\u003e]. Our study showed maximum percentage leaf infestation and showed lowest RPB population reduction over control in microbial pesticides treated plots. Therefore, it can be traced that exposure to higher temperatures might be the reason for the lower performance of BMOs in our research.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"CONCLUSION","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe research was carried out to test the bio-efficacy of different pesticides on Red Pumpkin Beetle (\u003cem\u003eAulacophora foveicollis\u003c/em\u003e Lucas) and its infestation assessment in summer squash plant for the effective management strategy of RPB. The research showed all the effects of chemical; microbial and botanical pesticides are highly significant over control. Among the pesticides used for the research, minimum percentage leaf infestation was observed in insecticide imidacloprid (9.43%) followed by botanical pesticide jholmol (10.52%) and neem seed kernel extract (11.28%). Microbial pesticides showed less effective action in reducing the percentage leaf infestation. The result indicated that neem seed-kernel extract, jholmol, and imidacloprid were at par and minimum percentage leaf infestation occurred and were equally significant for RPB population reduction followed by microbial pesticides. The yield of summer squash was significantly high with neem seed-kernel extract (49.09 t/ha) and imidacloprid (47.01 t/ha) application, while lowest in control (25.19 t/ha). The lowest ICBR was obtained in imidacloprid (1:2.75), followed by jholmol (1: 2.74) and need seed-kernel extract (1:2.50).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHence our study concludes that the most effective botanical pesticides are neem seed kernel extract and jholmol in controlling RPB infestation which can be used as a substitute of chemical pesticides, that aid to positive economic and environmental aspects.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ch2\u003eETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot applicable. This study did not involve human participants or animals requiring ethical approval.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCONSENT FOR PUBLICATION\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot applicable. This manuscript does not contain any individual person\u0026rsquo;s data, images, or other identifiable information.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCOMPETING INTERESTS\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFunding\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eacquisition- No funding\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInvestigation-All author equally contributed\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMethodology-All author equally contributed\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProject administration- All author equally contibuted\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResources-All author equally contributed\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eG.N and Kalyani B - Software\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eD.K - Supervision\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eG.N, Kalyani B, P.K.T, Kalyan B, S.S - Validation\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKalani B and G.N - Visualization\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriting \u0026ndash; original draft- Gaurab Neupane, Kalyani Bhandari, Pradeep Kumar Teli, Kalyan Bhattarai, Swastika Sharma\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriting \u0026ndash; review \u0026amp; editing-Dipak Khanal, Gaurab Neupabe, Kalyani Bhandari, Swastika Sharma\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eD.K, G.N, K.B - ConceptualizationKalyani B, G.N, S.S - Data curationG.N and Kalyani B - Formal analysisFunding acquisition- No fundingInvestigation-All author equally contributedMethodology-All author equally contributedProject administration- All author equally contibutedResources-All author equally contributedG.N and Kalyani B - SoftwareD.K - SupervisionG.N, Kalyani B, P.K.T, Kalyan B, S.S - ValidationKalani B and G.N - VisualizationWriting \u0026ndash; original draft- Gaurab Neupane, Kalyani Bhandari, Pradeep Kumar Teli, Kalyan Bhattarai, Swastika SharmaWriting \u0026ndash; review \u0026amp; editing-Dipak Khanal, Gaurab Neupabe, Kalyani Bhandari, Swastika Sharma\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eACKNOWLEDGEMENT\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe authors thank the Paklihawa Campus, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Tribhuvan University, Rupandehi, Nepal, for providing the experimental fields and tools during field operations.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKathiravan K, Vengedesan G, Singer S, Steinitz B, Paris HS, Gaba VJP, C., Tissue, Culture O. 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Biol Control. 2012;61(1):78\u0026ndash;88.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Biological control, Chemical pesticides, Cucurbits, Neem seed-kernel","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7901921/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7901921/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eRed pumpkin beetle (RPB) (\u003cem\u003eAulacophora foveicollis\u003c/em\u003e Lucas) is one of the major insect pests of the Cucurbitaceae family that cause severe damage to plants affecting the seedling establishment and lowering yield. Efficacy of two biopesticides viz. jholmol-3 (200 ml/l), neem seed-kernel extract (5 ml/l) and three microbial pesticides viz. \u003cem\u003eBacillus thuringiensis\u003c/em\u003e (2 g/l), \u003cem\u003eMetarhizium anisopliae\u003c/em\u003e (5 ml/l), \u003cem\u003eBeauveria bassiana\u003c/em\u003e (3 ml/l), and one chemical pesticide viz. imidacloprid (2 ml/l) along with control (water) was evaluated against RPB in summer squash plant at the field of IAAS, Paklihawa, Nepal. The main aim of this study was to assess the performance of different pesticides for the management of RPB in an economically and environmentally sound way. Seven treatments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments were found superior over control in every spraying. The result indicated neem seed-kernel extract, jholmol, and imidacloprid were equally significant for RPB population reduction followed by microbial pesticides. The minimum leaf infestation percentage was recorded in neem seed-kernel extract-treated plots. The yield of summer squash was significantly highest with neem seed-kernel extract (49.09 t/ha) and imidacloprid (47.01 t/ha) application, while lowest in control (25.19 t/ha). The lowest ICBR was obtained in imidacloprid (1:2.75), followed by jholmol (1: 2.74) and Need seed-kernel extract (1:2.50). Repellant, antifeedant and repugnant properties of botanicals leads to lower infestation rate and increase yield of the plant. Botanical pesticides like neem seed-kernel extract and jholmol can therefore be recommended to the farmers as better control measures compared to chemical pesticides.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Efficacy of Different Pesticides Against Red Pumpkin Beetle (Aulacophora Foveicollis Lucas) in Summer Squash Plant","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-07 17:01:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7901921/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"72fe86bd-e591-4575-a4b5-181a64c178ec","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-26T09:39:03+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-07 17:01:37","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7901921","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7901921","identity":"rs-7901921","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}