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ABSTRACT

Nowadays, managing crop pests on a farm can be challenging as the cost of chemical pesticides is raising and the pests have developed resistance to regularly used pesticides, hence there is a need for some alternate control strategies to overcome the pest attack. Trap cropping is one such cultural pest management practice, which is eco-friendly and economical. Trap crops can be planted around field perimeters or inter-planted with the cash crop. It benefits farmers by improving crop quality, attracting beneficial insects, enhancing biodiversity and reducing insecticide use.

Keywords: Trap crop; Eco-friendly; Pest management; Intercrop

Trap crops are the plant stands that are grown to attract natural enemies to protect target crops from pest infestation. The trap crop may be from the same or different family group, than that of the main crop, as long as it is more attractive to the pest. The natural differential attractiveness for oviposition and feeding enables the trap crop plants to serve as a sink for insects or the pathogens they vector. The essential features of trap cropping are that the trap crop must be attractive to the pest than the main crop, it should occupy a small area as far as possible and it should be established an early or later or along with the main crop.

The principle of trap cropping rests on the fact that virtually all pests show a distinct preference to certain crop stage. Manipulation of stand in time and space so that attractive host plants are offered at critical time in pests and the crop phenology leads to the concentration of the pests at the desired site of the trap crop (Keerthi et al., 2020). Protection may be achieved either by preventing the pests from reaching the crop i.e., trap crops pull the pest away from the cash crop or by concentrating them in certain parts of the field, where they can be destroyed. Most insect invasions happen at a specific time of year. It is important to have the trap crop already well established by the time the pests arrive.

A trap crop, also known as a sacrificial crop, because you don`t harvest anything from your trap crop and its sole purpose is to keep the pests away from the cash crop (Sarkar et al., 2018).

 Table 1: The important trap crops commonly used in pest management are:

Main  crop	Trap crop	Row proportion	Target pest
Cotton	Bhendi/okra	1:10	Bollworms
Cabbage and cauliflower	Sesamum	2:25	Diamondback moth
Tomato	Marigold	1:15	Tomato fruit borer
Field beans	Chrysanthemum	----	leaf minor
Potato and Rice	Marigold	----	Nematodes and snails
Maize	Sorghum	----	Corn stalk borer
Cowpea	Gingelly	----	Bihar hairy caterpillar

 Insect pests congregating on trap crop plants need to be eliminated. Otherwise, they are likely to reproduce on those plants, and then they can move to the cash crop. Congregated Insects can be killed with insecticides or by other means.

There are two methods of trap cropping: Perimeter trap cropping and Row intercropping. Perimeter trap cropping (border trap cropping) is the planting of trap crop completely around the main crop. It prevents a pest attack from all sides of the field. It works best on pests that are found near the borderline of the farm. Row intercropping is the planting of the trap crop in alternating rows within the main crop (Shelton and Nault, 2004).

 Advantages of trap cropping

·  Lessens the use of pesticide

·  Lowers the pesticide cost

·  Attract and preserves the indigenous natural enemies

·  Improves the crop`s quality

·  Helps in soil conservation and the environment

·  Ecofriendly approach to manage pests

 General limitations of trap cropping

Agronomic and logistical considerations associated with implementing trap crops, such as different planting dates and fertilizer requirements of the trap crop and main crop, are also likely to limit the practical use of trap cropping. The costs of insecticide control is often low compared with the cost of setting aside land for trap cropping, especially in the case of vegetables and other high-value crops and in crops are attacked by a complex of insect pests.

Conclusion

A trap crop’s effectiveness depends on which pest you are trying to manage and how desirable the host is for those pests. By using trap cropping, farmers can reduce inputs (fuel, labour, time, and insecticides) resulting in increased income, by reducing cost of production, furthermore protecting pollinators and other beneficial insects. As the cost of chemical pesticides rises, farmers need some inexpensive, eco-friendly, alternate control strategy to combat the pest population. Trap cropping is one of the useful strategies in the management of several pests in various cropping systems. It offers significant economic and environmental benefits and it can successfully integrate with cultural, biological and chemical control methods. Growers interested in biologically-based pest management programs have especially shown increased interest in trap cropping. Trap cropping will greatly benefit farmers, if farmers, scientists, and extension educators expand their concepts of trap cropping to include diverse modalities.

 References

 

Sarkar, S. C., Wang, E., Wu, S., & Lei, Z. (2018). Application of trap cropping as companion plants for the management of agricultural pests: a review. Insects, 9(4), 128.

Shelton, A. M., & Nault, B. A. (2004). Dead-end trap cropping: a technique to improve management of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae). Crop Protection, 23(6), 497-503.

Keerthi, M. C., Sharma, R. K., Suroshe, S. S., & Sinha, S. R. (2020). Ecological engineering in cauliflower for aphid management. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 90(7), 1356-1358.

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Trap Crop - A Tool for Managing Insect Pests_compressed.pdf