MANAGEMENT OF WHITEFLY (Bemisia tabaci) IN BRINJAL THROUGH INTERCROPPING

In Bangladesh, brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is suffering from a huge loss of yield caused by whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) which sucks the sap from the plant and transmits viruses. Farmers often use chemical insecticides which leads to pest resistance and harm to the environment. Intercropping is another sustainable alternative that can control pest spread and benefit the ecosystem. An experiment was carried out at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Jamalpur during three winter seasons (2022-2025) involving brinjal intercropped with onion, calendula, coriander, garlic, chilli and a control with brinjal only. Research findings revealed that intercropping signifi­cantly suppressed the population of whiteflies in comparison to the control. The brinjal-coriander intercropping showed the greatest efficacy against whiteflies, reducing the pest count by 58-59%. Moreover, the intercropping significantly augmented the yield by 64-66%. The lowest whitefly density was recorded at 13.3-14.2 per leaf. Chilies were the least effective on whitefly incidence whereas onion, calendula and garlic slightly reduced it. Regression analysis showed that there was a strong negative correlation between the whitefly population with yield (R2 = 0.94). Intercropping of brinjal with coriander is a low-cost and sustainable management measure to control whitefly and enhance brinjal yield.