A study on seasonal incidence of the tomato fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) on tomato was conducted under field conditions at Vegetable Research Station, CSAUA&T, Kanpur during Rabi season 2021-2022. The incidence of fruit borer commenced in the 47th standard week (third week of November) with an average population of 0.2 larvae per m row length. The fruit borer population increased and gradually reached its peak level of 7.8 larvae per m row length in the 3rd standard week (January third week), after that, a declining trend was observed. As regards abiotic factors, rainfall (r=0.4727), maximum relative humidity (r=0.3306), minimum relative humidity (r=0.7544) and wind speed (r=0.6039) had a significant positive correlation with the fruit borer population. Maximum temperature (r=-0.7616) and minimum temperature (r=-0.6327) are negatively correlated with the fruit borer population.

A field experiment was conducted for the management of tomato fruit borer in the winter period of 2021-22 at the Vegetable Research Station of C.S.A. University, Kanpur. The current study assessed the effectiveness of some novel insecticides as well as bio-pesticides on the Azad T-6 cultivar of tomato crop. Our team used chemical insecticides such as Flubendiamide 39.35% S.C. (Suspension concentrate), Chlorantraniliprole 18.5% S.C. and Fipronil 5% S.C. and bio-pesticides viz. Spinosad 45% S.C., Helicoverpa armigera nuclear polyhedrosis virus (HaNPV) 2% A.S. (Aqueous suspension), Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Bt) 5% W.P. (Wettable powder) and Neemarin 1500 ppm (parts per million) at their suggested quantity. The observations on the number of larvae were recorded from ten arbitrarily tagged plants in each plot treated with insecticides and bio-pesticides. It was recorded that Flubendiamide 39.35% S.C. @ 0.2 ml/lit was found to be the most efficient against the fruit borer larvae trailed by Chlorantraniliprole 18.50% S.C. @ 0.3 ml/lit in decreasing the larval population and displayed maximum percent decrease in fruit infestation over untreated control. Amongst the bio-pesticides, Spinosad 45% S.C. @ 0.2 ml/lit was found to be the maximum effective over untreated control. All the used insecticides and bio-pesticides in the existing field experiment were found to be superior to the control.