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Leucinodes orbonalis (Guenee) inflicts considerable damage on eggplant. In the present study farmers’ practice (Regime 1: Repeated use of different insecticides viz., Cypermethrin, Monocrotophos, Chlorpyriphos and Triazophos once or twice at weekly intervals) was compared with two IPM regimes, during 2010-12. The IPM regimes were: 1) Regime 2: weekly shoot clipping of infested twigs at the time of infestation along with installation of pheromone traps at 100/ha (lure was changed at 25 days intervals); and 2) Regime 3: weekly shoot clipping of infested twigs at the time of infestation along with installation of pheromone traps at 100/ha (lure was changed at 25 days interval) and need based application of NSKE at 4% and cartap hydrochloride at 1 g/l. The least fruit damage (20.46%) was observed in regime 3. With this IPM regime, the fruit damage was prevented by 35.01 to 36.18% and 22.87 to 23.33% additional yield was recorded over the regime relied upon only chemical pesticides. An additional income of USD $ 1064.22/ha was also obtained in open pollinated and USD $ 1799.35/ha in hybrid cultivars with a 10 to 11 times reduction of chemical sprayings in the regime 3. The selected regime not only reduced the total cost of crop production but also increased the net return per unit area. The IPM programme (regime 3) that consisted of cultural, mechanical and chemical components was proved to be an ideal management strategy against eggplant shoot and fruit borer along with a benefit: cost ratio of 3.65 to 4.27.

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An updated checklist of the hoverflies including distribution and seasonal occurence data of known species in Nepal is presented. The list is based on all available published literature on taxonomy, biodiversity, ecology, and biological aspects of the syrphid fauna of Nepal up to 2023. A total of 205 species from three subfamilies and 63 genera are known to occur in Nepal. Among the three subfamilies, Eristalinae shares maximum species (111 species, 54%), followed by Syrphinae (90 species, 44%), and Microdontinae (four species, 2%). is presented. Among these, 48 (23%) species are recorded in Nepal only. The distribution of known hoverfly species in the country is not uniform, with the Bagmati (82 species) and Koshi (75 species) provinces having the greatest number of species, while the Madhesh (four species) and Lumbini (one species) provinces having the lowest records. The highest number of species are recorded in May (51 species), followed by July (50 species) and June (48 species). Winter season records are relatively low, and distribution data are still incomplete for some sites. Based on the present review, comprehensive and systematic sampling across the entire country is necessary for further exploration of Nepal's hoverfly fauna.

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Concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere is likely to increase up to 550 µmol mol^-1 by the middle of 21^st century. Such an increase in the atmospheric CO₂ would affect plant growth, and as well the productivity of crop plants. A field experiment was conducted with two potato cultivars namely Kufri Surya and Kufri Chipsona-3 grown inside Open Top Chambers (OTCs) at ambient (385±30 µmol mol^-1) vs. elevated CO₂ (570±50 µmol mol^-1) levels during rabi (winter) season of the year 2009-2010. The photosynthetic rate significantly increased in both cultivars when under high CO₂ concentration, with the enhancement being more in Kufri Chipsona-3 than in Kufri Surya. There were significantly increased accumulations of reducing, non-reducing and total sugars observed in the leaves of both cultivars as due to CO₂ enrichment. Crop Growth Rate (CGR) and Tuber Growth Rate (TGR), in both cultivars, were recorded higher in plants grown under elevated CO₂ as compared with the ambient CO₂ content. High CO₂ increased the partitioning of dry matter towards the tubers at all the harvesting stages. Potato plants grown under elevated CO₂ exhibited increased tuber yield due to the enhanced number of tubers per plant. At the final harvest, total tuber fresh weight was by 36% higher, under high CO₂ treatments, as compared with that in the ambient. The response of K. Chipsona-3 was more pronounced, to elevated CO₂ concentration, as compared with K. Surya. It is concluded that rising atmospheric CO₂ in the future climatic change scenario may be beneficial to such tuber crops like potato to enhance growth as well as tuber number and finally yield.