Effect of Sowing Times and Varieties on Incidence of Pod Borer in Lentil

Field experiment was conducted to study the effect of sowing times and varieties on incidence of pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera Hubner) in lentil at the Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from October 2008 to April 2009. Four sowing times, S1: sowing on 06 November, S2: sowing on 16 November, S3: sowing on 26 November and S4: sowing on 06 December, and four varieties, V1: BARI Masur-3, V2: BARI Masur-4, V3: BARI Masur-5 and V4: BARI Masur-6, were evaluated in this experiment. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Pod damaged by pod borer varied significantly due to sowing times and crops sowing in November 16 had the lowest level of pod borer infestation (11.33%) compared to early (14.71%) and late season (15.84%) sowing crops. Pod infestation also significantly varied in different lentil varieties and it was found lowest (12.53%) in BARI Masur-4 compared BARI Masur-3 (14.52% pod infestation). BARI Masur-5 and BARI Masur-6 had the same level of pod infestation as BARI Masur-4. Combined effect of sowing times and varieties showed significant effect on lentil pod infestation by pod borer. BARI Masur-4 sowing on 16 November and BARI Masur-5 sowing on 26 November were found as the best combination with lowest percent of pod damage (10.41% and 10.69%, respectively) by pod borer.