EFFECT OF FERTILIZER’S TYPE AND INSECTICIDES INDIVIDUAL AND COMBINED AGAINST BATRACHEDRA AMYDRAULA MEYRICK ON A DATE PALM

Abstract

The current study revealed that the combined use of the balanced N.P.K fertilizer and Matrixin Plus insecticide had a great ability to reduce the infestation rate of lesser date moth Batrachedra amydraula. Meyrick on a date palm. The lowest rate of infestation in the drops fruit was 2.5% after 14 days of treatment and 5.9% in response to the eucalyptus leaf extract compared to the control which showed an infestation rate of up to 27%. On the other hand, the spraying of seaweed extract (Seamac) at the chemri stage in combination with the Matrixin Plus insecticide or eucalyptus leaf extract resulted in the infestation rate of 6.1 and 6.9%, respectively. This was positively reflected in higher rates of some fruiting characteristics at the maturity stage like fruits number per strand-1, fruit weight and bunch weight that was about 21.53 fruits strand-1, 2.10 kg and 15.80 kg, respectively for the combination treatment of N.P.K fertilizer and Matrixin Plus insecticide. The values were significantly decreased to 10.90 fruits strand-1, 1.39 kg and 8.75 kg in the control. Lesser date moth has three generations in the Saqlawiyah region of Anbar Governorate during 2020.