Vol. 9, Special Issue 12, Part I (2025)

A field experiment was carried out during year 2021-22 at the Instructional Farm, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, to assess the effects of different transplanting dates and crop covers on the yield, yield attributing parameters and pest infestation of chilli. The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design comprising twelve treatment combinations, each replicated three times. Treatments included three transplanting dates: T₁ (25^th November), T₂ (10^th December) and T₃ (25^th December) and three crop cover thickness: viz., C₁ (17 gsm), C₂ (20 gsm) and C₃ (23 gsm) and one control C₄ (without crop cover). Treatment combinations T₁C₁ (November 25 transplanting + 17 gsm crop cover) was found superior, significantly increasing yield attributing parameters such as number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit yield per plant, fruit yield per plot, and fruit yield per hectare. Regarding pest incidence, the lowest thrips and whitefly populations were recorded on 25 December transplanting under 17 gsm crop cover (T₃C₁).