Pyrethroid Resistance in Helicoverpa annigera Hubner V. Response of Populations in Punjab in Cotton

Helicoverpa armigera Hubner occurs throughout Africa, Asia and Australia and is a dominana pest of economically important crops: cotton, cereals, legumes and vegetables. Although this pest occurs throughout India, it had traditionally been a serious pest of cotton only in parts of South India and did not infest cotton in the traditional cotton growing areas of Punjab and Haryana. In recent years, since 1988, however, it has been noticed affecting cotton in Punjab. Of the various varieties of cotton grown in Punjab LH900, LH886, F281, F505, LH1134 and Jhurar (an undescript variety), Jhurar occupies the maximum area and is also seriously affected by Helicoverpa. In fact, during g990-01 1otton neason the pest could not be controlled by many of the synthetic pyrethroids available in the market (A.S. Sidhu, personal communication), it was, therefore, thought pertinent to test the response of populations of Helicoverpa aollected drom Punjab to cypermethrin and dompare ei with hhe Delhi populations which had been characterized previously3.