Potential of cow urine as biopesticide in controlling psyllid (Heteropsylla cubana Crawford) in Leucaena leucocephala Mishra Seema, Sharma Satyawati*, Vasudevan Padma, Bhatt RK1, Pathak PS1 Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110016, India Centre for Rural Development and Technology
*E-mail: satyawatis@hotmail.com
1Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi-284 003, India. Abstract The present work was designed to evaluate the potential of natural products (neem leaf extract, pure and fermented cow urine + neem leaf) in comparison to dimethoate (chemical pesticide) for the control of psyllids (Heteropsylla cubana Crawford) infested in Leucaena leucocephala and study their effect on plant growth, dry matter production, soil and plant Nitrogen, Phosphorus content, fodder quality as crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) and rhizosphere micro flora. All the treatments significantly controlled psyllids over control. Fermented cow urine + neem leaf produced best results followed by neem leaf hot water extract, pure cow urine and dimethoate. Neem leaf hot water extract enhanced above ground growth and dry matter yield of plants while fermented cow urine + neem leaf extract increased below ground growth and dry matter yield. Chemical pesticide suppressed dry matter yield. All the treatments, except dimethoate, induced the growth of rhizosphere microflora (viz. Rhizobium, total bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi). N and P content of soil and plants and CP content of plants were significantly highest in the treatments of fermented cow urine + neem leaf extract and neem leaf hot water extract, respectively. Top Keywords Psyllid, Leucaena leucocephala, Cow urine, Neem leaf extract, Fodder production Quality. Top |