Role of habitat manipulation for pest management in tomato

The experimental field trials were undertaken during the Rabi season of 2021 and 2022 to assess the influence of habitat manipulation on the incidence of fruit borers of tomatoes and their natural enemies at Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh. The pooled data of two years depicted that tomatoes intercropped with cowpea and bordered with marigold plants recorded the lowest fruit borer incidence (1.23 larvae per plant), the highest natural enemy population of 5.58 per plant, lowest fruit borer damage per cent (15.21%) and yield of about 15.99 tonnes per ha. It was followed by a crop combination of tomato + chickpea bordered with mustard with a fruit borer incidence of 1.59 larvae per plant, the natural enemy population of 5.32 per plant, 15.90 per cent incidence of fruit borers and 15.42 tonnes yield per ha. This study indicates the possibility of using these crop combinations as an integral part of bio-intensive pest management against fruit borers in tomatoes.