THE EFFICACY OF THE BIOLOGICAL INSECTICIDES BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS BERLINER AND SPINOSAD AGAINST THE LESSER DATE MOTH

Abstract

Field studies were initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of Bacillus thuringiensis and Spinosad for the control of lesser date moth in Saqlawyia /Al-Anbar during 2010. Results indicated that all insecticides were effective in reducing the infestation by the lesser date moth after two weeks of treatment. The biological insecticide B.thuringiensis was the most effective against the pest when applied as spray with an efficiency rate of 73% fallowed by 71% for the same agent applied as dust, while the efficiency of Spinosad and Deltamethrin were 58% and 58.2% respectively. However the relative efficiency of all treatments was reduce after one month of application. and was 68.7, 68.2, 49 and 49% for the four treatments, respectively. All treatments were effective in increasing some yield parameters such as number of fruits and weight of bunches. Results showed that the mean number of fruits per strand was 24.6,22.8 and 19.5 for B.thuringiensis applied as spray or dust,Spinosad and Deltamethrin treatments respectively. The means of bunches weights were 9.13,8.90,7.43 and 9.10kg/buch for the four treatment respectively, while it was7.27kg/bunch for the control treatment.