Management of Pink Bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) through Agronomic Interventions in Cotton

An experiment to investigate the effect of agronomic interventions in the management of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella in Bt cotton (hybrid Platinum) under closer spacing (90 x 30 cm) was conducted at RARS, Lam, ANGRAU, Guntur during kharif ,2024-25. Eight treatments in combination with mepiquat chloride application at 45 and 60 days after sowing detopping at 60 DAS, with recommended chemical pink bollworm management compared with conventional method of spacing (105 x 60 cm) , were evaluated. Infestation levels of PBW measured in terms of green boll damage (%), green locule damage (%), number of larvae per 10 bolls, and rosette flowers (%). The lowest green boll damage, green locule damage, no. of larvae/ 10 bolls and rosette flowers due to pink bollworm were recorded in the treatment closer spacing + detopping + recommended PBW chemical management (17.33, 12.5, 4.33 and 11.00 respectively ), next best treatment was closer spacing + MPC @ 45 ppm at 45–60 DAS + recommended PBW chemical management (18, 18, 4.33 and 12 respectively) and highest infestation was recorded in Conventional method of spacing (36.67, 36, 4.93 and 24.67 respectively). Closer spacing + recommended PBW chemical management alone recorded 22.67 green boll damage, 14.89 green locule damage, 4.33, and 16.33 rosette flowers. Integrating closer spacing, growth regulation, and recommended PBW chemical management effectively reduced PBW infestation in Bt cotton.