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Abstract

Intercropping is one of the important cultural practices in pest management and is based on the principle of reducing insect pests by increasing the diversity of an ecosystem. On–farm experiments were conducted in villages of semi–arid tropical (SAT) India to identify the appropriate combination of castor (Ricinus communis L.) (Malpighiales: Euphorbiaceae) and intercropping in relation to pest incidence. The diversity created by introducing cluster bean, cowpea, black gram, or groundnut as intercrops in castor (1:2 ratio proportions) resulted in reduction of incidence of insect pests, namely semilooper (Achaea janata L.), leaf hopper (Empoasca flavescens Fabricius), and shoot and capsule borer (Conogethes punctiferalis Guenee). A buildup of natural enemies (Microplitis, coccinellids, and spiders) of the major pests of castor was also observed in these intercropping systems and resulted in the reduction of insect pests. Further, these systems were more efficient agronomically and economically, and were thus more profitable than a castor monocrop.

Keywords: cultural practices, ecosystem diversity, natural enemies, agronomical evaluation, gross margin

Correspondence: ^a msrao909@gmail.com, *Corresponding author

Editor: Xinzhi Ni was Editor of this paper.

Received: 5 March 2011 | Accepted: 1 January 2012 | Published: 1 February 2012

Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.  

ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 12, Number 14

Rao MS, Rama Rao CA, Srinivas K, Pratibha G, Vidya Sekhar SM, Sree Vani G, Venkatswarlu B. 2012. Intercropping for management of insect pests of castor, Ricinus communis, in the semi–arid tropics of India. Journal of Insect Science 12:14 available online: insectscience.org/12.14