Effect of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) border crop on the control of cotton bollworms

Cotton bollworms are among the major problematic pests of cotton that need to be controlled in order to increase on yield. Their feeding habit is so voracious that they feed mostly on the economic parts of the cotton plants. These include, flowers, squares, bolls and even the seed inside the boll (in the case of pink bollworm). The main cotton bollworms species which feed and cause damage on cotton in Zimbabwe are Heliothis, Red, Spiny and Pink bollworms. The main method of control used in the country is the use of pesticides. These tend to lose their efficacy the longer they are used resulting in the bollworm pest developing pesticide resistance. This project was carried out to improve availability of the other bollworm control methods alternative to pesticides use. It was carried out at Cotton Research Institute (CRI), Wozhele and Kuwirirana in 2022 – 23 and 2023 – 24 seasons. The treatments were Cotton rows with no pigeon pea border, one, two, three and four border rows. Cotton with no pigeon pea border rows was used as a standard. Bollworm egg counts and predators were the main measurements. Results showed that pigeon pea is able to lure more Heliothis bollworms and Red bollworm moths to as shown by eggs than does cotton. It also attracted some predators such as chrysopas and spiders. Data was transformed using the square root transformation of (x + 3/8) and analysis was done using GenStat 18th Edition. Means were separated using Fisher’s Protected LSD in ascending order. published by the  International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research | IJAAR