Evaluation of Polypropylene Spun-bond Nets for Viral Disease Management in Bitter Gourd (Mormodica charantia L.)

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is one of the highly susceptible cucurbits to viral diseases which transmits mainly via insect vectors. The success of existing pest control techniques is limited. Thus, investigating new pest control tactics are important to protect highly valued bitter gourd crop. In the present study, the impact of three practices viz. individual plant netting, seed treatment and plant nursery protection on viral disease incidence and yield was studied. The studies were conducted for 3 consecutive seasons from 2018 Yala. Eight treatment combinations were practiced. Seeds were treated with thiamethoxam 70% WS at the rate of 10 g kg⁻¹ of seeds. Seedlings were kept in an insect proof net house for two weeks before transplanting in the field. Spun bonded net was used to cover individual plants for 4 weeks. Treatments were placed in a split plot design. Individual and combined effects were statistically analyzed using ANOVA in SAS software. A highly significant effectson virus control (P<0.0001) and yield increase (P<0.001) were detected with netting individual plants and nursery protection gave a significantly high yield (P<0.03). Impact of seed treatment was negative on both virus control and yield. A higher profit margin was estimated with net cover practice over the control without net covers using a partial cost estimation. The individual plant netting practice is a significantly effective new technique for controlling viral diseases and enhancing yield while protecting the environment. It is mostly suitable for organic cultivations, quality seed production and IPM programs.