Full Length Research Paper

Preliminary studies on incidence of insect pest on okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench in central Burkina Faso

Clementine L. Dabiré-Binso¹, Malick N. Ba¹, Koussao Somé¹ and Antoine Sanon²

¹Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire d’entomologie Agricole de Kamboinse, Burkina Faso.

²Université de Ouagadougou, Laboratoire d’Entomologie Fondamentale et Appliquée, UFR-SVT, Burkina Faso.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: baniango@yahoo.fr:  Tel: +226 50319202. Fax: +226 50340271.

Accepted 19 November, 2009

   Abstract

A field experiment was carried out in 2006 and 2007 in Central Burkina Faso to determine extent of damage and yield losses caused by insect pests occurring on okra. We set up a trial with plot of unprotected and protected okra testing increasing doses of deltamethrin. The most important insect pests included 2 species of flea beetles Podagrica sp. These insects caused heavy defoliation of up to 80% of the leaf surface. Spraying of deltamethrin at the doses of 6.25 to 25 g a.i./ha was effective for controlling the insect population but no evidence of significant fruit yield losses was observed.

Key words: Podagrica sp., okra, deltamethrin, Burkina Faso.