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Cotton plants are infested by several groups of insects like thrips, aphids, beetles, whiteflies, mites, jassids and some types of bugs. In addition to all these insect groups, caterpillars are considered to be the most active insect group that concretely targets the cotton plant varieties for their growth. Caterpillars are generally the larval stage of moth insects. They are also referred as maggot or worms. Bollworm is a worm species responsible for severe damage of cotton crops in the farms. It is sub-classified into different kinds among which American Bollworm, Spotted bollworm, Pink bollworm, etc. are included in the most destructive type. Helicoverpa armigera is a sole breed that takes on cotton plants for infestation.
Adult stage of this worm is distinctively identified with a shaded brown forewings specked with dark dots. Farmers growing cotton crops should be aware of the physical appearance of adult moths in order to identify the culprit adults intensively proliferating in host cotton plants. This major cotton insect starts its action between the months of July to October. The action of the insect is exemplified initially by feeding the leaves of the crop and on further phase the worms damage the cotton bolls.
Each bollworm has the capability of damaging about 40 bolls of cotton by itself. The cotton inside gets infested on the worm’s feed and consequently becomes unworthy of use. Leaving the worms as such in the farm without any control measure will probably ruin the whole crop area within a short period. Since cotton being an important cash crop for the farmers it is very essential to protect the crop from damage by these foreign pests.
Despite cultural control, mechanical control and chemical control methods of cotton bollworm which are been practiced commonly, exclusive biological control of American bollworm also exhibits effective results in controlling the insect like other methods. Furthermore, it protects the plants from side effects. Combination of Neem oil and Neem Seed kernel extract can be an effective biological insecticide spray for cotton bollworms. This mixture of neem extracts does not terminate the worms but helps in hindering the activities of the worm during its life cycle thereby keeps their population away from the farm. Spray of Neem oil has an added advantage that it does not affect the predatory insects of bollworms.
Note:Use of certified Neem oil for this
purpose is necessary. Uncertified neem formulations
are not advised to spray in cotton farms.
Spraying should be done in the night time
followed by watering the day after to avoid
leaf burns.
Author: Adam Teaser - neem
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