The impact of wheat resistance and bio-rational insecticides toxicity against cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi L. (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Abstract

: Aphids cause substantial damage to the wheat crop. In order to determine how host plant resistance and insecticides manage the Rhopalosiphum padi L. Current experiments were carried out to find the influence of host plant resistance and bio-rational insecticides against aphids in wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) crop. Field experiments were carried out for two growing years (2017/18 and 2018/19) to access the resistance of wheat against the aphids. The field resistance of wheat is highly expressed in Pirsabak-08 variety (infestation range = 1–2.5) while the most susceptible variety is Faisalabad-08 (infestation range > 10). The varietal preference experiment results revealed that 5.33 aphids were attracted towards Pirsabak-08 while Faisalabad-08 stood as the most susceptible variety as 25.0 aphids were found after 72 h. The linear correlation analysis revealed that the aphid attractiveness is negatively correlated to the trichome density. A stage-specific insect growth regulator (IGR) and natural insecticides were applied to a comparatively more resistant variety. The best results were achieved with pyriproxyfen and neem, as the population rapidly declined to 2.66 and 2.60 aphids/plant, respectively. Current findings lead to the conclusion that utilizing resistant hosts against aphids along with the use of safer insecticides can significantly reduce wheat damage.