Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted one at Vellan Koil in winter season cotton cultivar - MCU 5 during January to April 2008 and the other at Erangkattur on Cultivar -Surabhi during May to September 2008. Both the field experiments were conducted in erode districts of Tamil Nadu to evaluate the safety of new formulation emamectin benzoate 5 SG at different doses (emamectin benzoate 5 SG at 7, 11 and 15 g a.i. / ha) in comparison with standard check, Proclaim^® at 11 g a.i. / ha (emamectin benzoate 5 SG) which is a registered product of Syngenta and spinosad 45 SC at 75 g a.i. / ha) to coccinellid predators in cotton ecosystem. Observation on the population of coccinellids were made prior to spraying and on 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days after spraying from ten randomly tagged plants per plot and the mean population was worked out. The results showed that emamectin benzoate 5 SG was found safer to coccinellids at all the tested concentrations. The highest population was recorded in plots treated with emamectin benzoate 5 SG at 7 g a.i. / ha followed by emamectin benzoate 5 SG at 11 g a.i. / ha.

Key words: Safety, emamectin benzoate 5 SG, coccinellids, cotton ecosystem.