Evaluation of Promising Varieties of Sunflower against Major Sucking Insect Pests and Eco-safe Pest Management

Presently jassid, whitefly and aphid have emerged as the new serious sucking insect pest complex on sunflower. This study evaluated the effectiveness of three sunflower varieties (BARI Sunflower-2, BARI Sunflower-3, and the hybrid variety Mayabi) against them and assessed some pest control methods (T2= yellow sticky traps with Trichogramma spp. and Microbracon sp. release, T3= egg mass collection with Carbaryl spray and T4= pheromone traps with chlorpyriphos spray) against these insects at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Bangladesh. A two-factorial randomized complete block design with three replications tested these three pest management treatments over control (p = .05). Mayabi was most susceptible variety to these pests, while BARI Sunflower-2 showed the highest resistance and had the highest seed yield (1.72 Ton/hectare). Pheromone traps with chlorpyriphos (T4) effectively reduced pest populations and with increased yield and BARI sunflower- 2 (V1) while V1T4 treatment combination were recorded as the lowest seed yield with high infestation. The overall results indicate that combined pest management strategies effectively reduced insect pest incidence on sunflower compared to the untreated control (T1) and susceptible varieties. Integrated pest management combining resistant varieties with eco-friendly strategies to enhance sunflower yield and reduce environmental hazards is a continuous field of research for sustainable agriculture.