ABSTRACT
Imidacloprid seed treatment reduced the jassid populations by 65% in research station studies without affecting predator coccinellids. In farmer participatory trials aimed at area-wide management” of cotton pests during the past two seasons, it reduced jassids by 62-79% and aphids by 66-72% without affecting the predator coccinellids. It also substantially increased plant height (23-30%) up to eight weeks from planting and increased square production (32-49%) during the initial fruiting period. Further, it helped to eliminate foliar sprays against sucking pests in 19 out of 20 farms for 40-50 days. Fields that did not receive seed treatment, required 1-3 foliar sprays to keep the sucking pests under check. This seed treatment, combined with other management tactics employed for area-wide management of cotton pests, resulted in an increase in seed cotton yields by 28-31% over farmer managed fields without seed treatment.

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