Field screening of common jute (Corchorus olitorius) varieties against major pests in Eastern Terai region of Nepal

Field screening of eleven most popular jute varieties belonging to Corchorus olitorius species was done against the major pests in the farm of Jute Research Programm, Itahari, Sunsari, Nepal during 2017 and 2018. Different species of pests belonging to insects, mites and nematodes were found feeding on jute. Among them, jute Semilooper (Anomis sabulifera Guen.), Bihar hairy caterpillar (Spilarctia obliqua Wlk.), yellow mite (Polyphagotarson emuslatus Banks), are causing economic damage to the jute crop. Eleven jute varieties were selected to conduct varietal preference and tested against major pest of jute in field condition. Among the eleven varieties JRO-524 was found to be moderately resistant against the Semilooper (A. sabulifera) and Bihar hairy caterpillar (S. oblique) but least susceptible to yellow mites. Likewise, the variety KEN-DS-058, KEN-DS-066, BJRI-1965 and BJRI-1968 showed highly susceptible to major pest Semilooper (A. sabulifera), Bihar hairy caterpillar (S. oblique) and yellow mites. The variety BRD-SRB-061, YA-41, O-4, KEN-BL-130, Itahari-2 showed moderate resistance to Semilooper (A. sabulifera), Bihar hairy caterpillar (S. oblique) but moderately susceptible to yellow mites. Further, the fibre production capacity of the varieties under different pest’s pressure was found relatively higher in variety JRO-524 followed by YA-41, BRD-SRB-061, KEN-BL-130 and O-4 respectively. The relatively higher yield recorded under varying pest levels over two consecutive seasons is an indicative of greater field tolerance of olitorius jute varieties.