BIOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC EFFICACY OF THE ENTOMOPATHOGENIC NEMATODE STEINERNEMA CARPOCAPSAE AGAINST THE COTTON BOLLWORM HELICOVERPA ARMIGERA UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS IN UZBEKISTAN
Keywords:
Steinernema carpocapsae; Helicoverpa armigera; biological control; infective juveniles; field efficacy; cotton yield; Uzbekistan.Abstract
The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), is an economically important pest of cotton. This study summarizes field evaluations of a local isolate of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae against H. armigera in the Tashkent and Surkhandarya regions of Uzbekistan during 2023-2025. Nematode suspensions were tested at 80 and 100 million infective juveniles (IJs) ha and compared with a reference treatment and an untreated control. Reported biological efficacy in selected observations reached 72.6% and 86.4% at the respective application rates in Tashkent, and 76.0% and 82.0% in Surkhandarya. Cotton yield increased by 4.5-5.0 centners ha relative to untreated control. These results suggest that locally sourced S. carpocapsae has potential as a biological control agent within integrated cotton pest management.
