Development of Farmer-led Integrated Management of Major Pests of Cauliflower Cultivated in Rainy Season in India

Implementation of Integrated Pest and Disease Management programme in irrigated cauliflower crop led to reduction in number of conventional pesticide sprays by 50-60 %. The safer biorational pesticides, insect growth regulators and cultural methods of pest management as introduced in the IPM programme were well received by the farmers in farmers’ participatory trainings (FPT). Lower insect and disease incidence with higher curd production was observed in the IPM fields as compared to conventional non IPM fields. Furthermore the module was able to drag the cost of crop protection down by 45 percent resulting in higher benefit-cost ratio. The IPM module led to reinforcement of natural enemies resulting in sustainable and stable pest control regime warranting less pesticide application. Cotesia glomeratus L. was found parasitizing the larvae of Spodoptera litura F. in IPM fields whereas there was no parasitization in non IPM fields. Post implementation evaluation of the IPM programme revealed that the farmers were educated about the right choice of pesticides, proper time and dose of application, pest monitoring and application of pesticides based on action threshold. Increase in participation of women in the IPM programme was ensured by educating them about the mechanical management of S. litura.