Author(s): Dr. P Archana, Dr. K Madan Mohan Reddy, Dr. O Shaila, Dr. K Sridhar, Dr. G Swathi and Dr. M Sampath Kumar

Abstract: A study was carried out to find the knowledge and adoption status of farmers about Integrated Pest Management practices in Groundnut with 120 sample size in Telangana State. The study revealed that nearly half of the respondents had medium knowledge and about half of the respondents had medium level of adoption however, majority of farmers adopted the cultural practices such as summer deep ploughing, manual weeding, sanitation of fields and crop rotation. With regards to the practices through mechanical control reveals that majority of respondents had low level of adoption viz., use of yellow sticky traps/pheromone traps / light traps and destruction of alternative host plants, whereas a high majority of respondent were low level of adoption practices i.e., preparation of neem seed extraction, frequency of their spray, concentration of neem seed kernel extract and use of neem oil with regard to insecticides of plant origin control. Similarly, in case of biological control such as use of trichogramma sp., use of bio-pesticides, use of fungal and Bt formulations, while about majority of respondents were adopted insecticides to control major pests with regards to chemical control. The study further reveals that nine independent variables were included in the study, out of which five variables were found positively and significantly related with the adoption level of IPM in groundnut that all the independent variables with could explain 62.48 variation in the adoption level of IPM in groundnut. The possible reason for non-adoption of technology might be due to non-availability of yellow sticky traps and pheromone traps etc. in time, lack of knowledge regarding using and installation of pheromone & yellow sticky traps, unaware about bio agents and bio pesticides and unaware about soil drenching of chemical spray for control of soil and seed born diseases. The major suggestion expressed by the respondents were availability of IPM modules in nearby input shops, conducting more exposure visits and demonstrations to convince the benefit of various IPM modules and creating more awareness about soil drenching of chemical spray for control of soil born diseases in Groundnut.

DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2024.v8.i7Sc.1501