Potato is ranked as the world's fourth most popular staple food with about 5,000 varieties worldwide (Zaheer & Akhtar, 2016).In terms of production, potato is the third most produced crop (405.83 million tons) after rice (862 million tons) and wheat (809.14 million tons) (FAOSTAT, 2019). Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regarded potatoes as a solution for world hunger and poverty during the international year of the potato (FAO, 2008). Carbohydrate-rich potatoes are packed with

Red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum is a serious pest of stored grain commodities. A laboratory study was conducted for evaluating the sub-lethal effects of a chitin synthesis inhibitor, lufenuron at concentrations of 0.02, 0.04 and 0.08 ppm against two strains of T. castaneum. Lufenuron caused significant effects on larval mortality, larval duration before pupae, larval weight, pupae and adult emergence. When these adults were allowed to oviposit on untreated wheat flour, their fecundity and egg hatchability was reduced to a larger extent at all the tested concentrations as compared to control treatment. Further, subsequent development of F 1 larvae, pupae and adults were also severely prohibited. Our findings show that lufenuron can be a potential product for pest management in mills, warehouses and food storage facilities.

Herbal drugs play an imperative role in healthcare programs in developing countries. Curry leaves have wide medicinal importance and are used to treat various diseases traditionally. The current study was carried out to estimate the extent of mercury toxicity and the potential effect of curry leaves against defined toxicity. The study group comprised 24 rats weighing between 130 and150 g. Group 1 was kept normal, and group 2 was exposed to mercury at 0.4 mg/kg of body weight in the form of mercuric chloride (HgCl2). The group 3 animals were treated with curry leaves with a dosage of 300 mg/kg of body weight. Group 4 was treated with curry leaves along with mercury with a dosage of 300 and 0.4 mg/kg consecutively. After 28 days, the rats were killed. Blood sample of all groups were evaluated separately to determine the results of different parameters. The results show that ALP, AST, ALT, urea, bilirubin, and creatinine increased with mercury application and decreased with curry leaf exposure. SOD, CAT, GPx, and GR of the liver as well as the kidney depleted on mercury exposure whereas they increased with curry leaf application. HDL increased with curry leaf application and decreased with mercury treatment, while LDL, triglyceride, and cholesterol decreased with curry leaves and increased with mercury exposure. Organ index in mercury along with curry leaf application got close to normal.

Cotton grey weevil is becoming a primary pest of agricultural and horticultural crops all over the world including Pakistan. The various management strategies such as chemical, biological and cultural have been adopted against this pest throughout the globe. The previous published literature was reviewed with the aim to evaluate the best strategy among all strategies to control the pest. Male is shorter as compared female with approximately 6.0 to 8.5 mm length. Adult feed on the leaves and cause huge crop losses. The current reviewed literature concluded that chemical control can give quick control of adult due to their fly ability while control of pupae, larvae and eggs is difficult due to their location in or on the soil. The excessive use of chemicals to control pest can caused mortality of other biological fauna. To avoid the excessive application of chemicals, biological and botanical control should be promoted and applied that will prove best option against the current pest.