International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

A field trial was conducted to evaluate the TNAU Integrated Pest Management module in comparison with farmers practice (FP) module for the management of maize fall army worm, Spodoptera frugiperda at AC & RI, Madurai during September to December, 2019. At 15 DAS, whorl damage and no. of larvae/10 plants were less in TNAU-IPM module (0.2% and 0.01 respectively) compared to FP module (0.6% and 0.03 respectively). This may be due to the seed treatment with thiamethoxam in TNAU-IPM module. Throughout the cropping period, leaf damage was low in TNAU-IPM module (3.0-20.0%) than FP module (9.0-29.0%). Significantly high mean tassel and cob damages were noted in FP module (22.5% and 23.5% respectively) than the TNAU-IPM module (6.5% and 5.5% respectively). Mean no. of larval population in TNAU-IPM plot was 0.5/10 plants and FP module had 1.4. Coccinellid beetles and spiders were the abundant natural enemies in TNAU IPM module (0.6 and 0.5/10 plants, respectively), whereas, they were low in FP module (0.07 and 0.1/10 plants, respectively). Pest defender ratio was 1:2.1 and 1:0.1 in TNAU-IPM and FP modules, respectively. Cob yield was significantly higher in TNAU-IPM module (4800 kg/ha) than FP module (3840 kg/ha). Cost benefit ratio was 1.6 and 1.4 in TNAU-IPM and FP modules, respectively.