Screening of Castor Germplasm against Tobacco Caterpillar Spodoptera litura F and Castor Semilooper Achaea janata L

Abstract

Twenty three castor genotypes screened against two important pests viz., Spodoptera litura (F) and Achaea janata (L). The results revealed that none of the genotypes were resistant. Based on the defoliation scale nine genotypes viz., GC-3 (9.86% defoliation), ICS-164 (10.13%), DCH-519 (10.48%), YTP-1 (10.92%), DCS-107 (11.78%), DCS-8g (12.70%), DCS-9 (12.72%), 48-1 (13.63%) and GC-2 (14.33%) were categorised as tolerant to S. litura and A. janata. Three genotypes viz., Haritha (21.58%), SKI-215 (23.81%) and SKI-291 (24.07%) were categorised as moderately tolerant. In these genotypes, the minimum larval incidence range was 0.31 to 0.51 larvae plant-1 in case of S. litura, whereas the minimum larval incidence range was 0.49 to 0.64 larvae plant-1 in case of A. janata.