author(s)
AK Gore, SS Sant, AK Kadam, SS Dhurgude and SB Patange

abstract
A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of botanicals and bio-pesticides on sucking pest management in cotton at Organic Farming Research and Training Centre farm, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani (Maharashtra) during 2019-20. The population of sucking pests viz., aphid, jassid, whitefly and thrips reduced significantly in the plots treated with microbial biopesticide like NSKE 5% + Verticilium lecani and NSKE 5% + Metarrhizium anisopliae which showed reduction in population of pests at the end of last spraying. The present study signifies the importance of microbial biopesticides for ecofriendly and sustainable pest management indicating their potential utility in supplementing the integrated pest management strategies of cotton.