Screening of Cowpea Genotypes for Field Infestation of Bruchids and their Control in Storage

An experiment was conducted to study the impact of different cowpea genotypes, insecticides and their interaction effect on field infestation of bruchids which acts as a primary source of storage loss. Twenty one genotypes of cowpea with three replications were subjected to pre harvest spray of Quinolphos 25 EC @ 0.05 per cent and malathion 50 EC @ 0.05 per cent and one with untreated control. The harvested seeds were stored for two months and observations were recorded on bruchids population, per cent damaged seeds and per cent weight loss in seeds at monthly intervals. It was observed that Quinolphos 25 EC @ 0.05 per cent pre harvest spray was effective in maintaining minimum or zero development of bruchid population, per cent seed damage and per cent weight loss of seeds in selective genotypes such as PGCP-3, KBC-2, DCP-17, TPTC-l, TPTC-2, PCP-9711.