Considerable number of insecticides have been tested and a few
of them were found effective against pod borer, complex including
Maruca on cowpea and pigeonpea (Degri and Choudhary 1998 and
Sahoo and se"apati 2000). But repeated use of these chemicals result in
the development of resistance to insecticides. ~ e c e n ttlh~e management
was focused on the use of safer chemicals and microbial pesticides.
After the introduction and availability of the new molecules such as
indoxacarb and spinosad, which were tested and found effective against
the key polyphagous pests like Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera
Iirura, but the studies on the effect of these new molecules on M. vitratu
were inconclusive. So there is every need to study their effect on this
species. Hence, the present study was mainly focused on the ,
development of effective management strategies for M.vitrata with the
following objectives...