https://www.journalajahr.com/index.php/AJAHR <p><strong>Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research (ISSN: 2581-4478)</strong> aims to publish high-quality papers (<a href="https://journalajahr.com/index.php/AJAHR/general-guideline-for-authors">Click here for Types of paper</a>) on all aspects of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences. By not excluding papers based on novelty, this journal facilitates the research and wishes to publish papers as long as they are technically correct and scientifically motivated. The journal also encourages the submission of useful reports of negative results. This is a quality controlled, OPEN peer-reviewed, open-access INTERNATIONAL journal.</p> SCIENCEDOMAIN international en-US Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research 2581-4478 https://www.journalajahr.com/index.php/AJAHR/article/view/473 <p>Red Pumpkin Beetle (RPB), (<em>Aulacophora foveicollis</em>), is a major destructive insect pest of summer squash, leading to severe vigor and yield loss. A field experiment was conducted in Gauradaha Agriculture Campus in 2024 to assess the comparative efficacy of various chemical insecticides for the management of RPB in Summer Squash The experiment was conducted on a Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD) with 3 replications and 7 treatments. The treatments subjected to the crop were Azadirachtin 300 ppm (3ml/L), Spinosad 45% SC (0.4 ml/L), Cypermethrin 10% EC (1.5 ml/L), <em>Beauveria bassiana</em> 1.15% WP (3 g/L), Malathion 50% EC (2 ml/L), Chlorantraniliprole 18.5% w/w (0.4 ml/L), and water (1.2 L/plot) as a control. The results showed significant differences among treatments in reducing RPB population after each spray (P&lt;0.05). The cypermethrin led to lower RPB population with an average of 1.59, 1.59, and 1.44 after the first, second, and third spray, respectively. The highest Population Reduction Over Control (PROC) was also observed with cypermethrin in both the second and third spray applications, at 23.07% and 14.54%, respectively. <em>Beauveria bassiana</em> was the second most effective treatment in controlling the population of PROC of 12.55, 16.32, and 8.72 after the first, second, and third spray, respectively, along with the lowest average RPB count at first (1.51) and second spray (1.57). Spinosad followed them with PROC value 22.98%, 8.72%, 10.22% and average RPB count of 1.64, 1.66, and 1.62, respectively. Findings suggested a significant impact of insecticidal treatments on crop yield, where the highest yield was observed in Cypermethrin-treated plots (28.21 Mt/ha), followed by Spinosad (26.06 Mt/ha) and <em>Beauveria bassiana </em>(20.36 Mt/ha). The lowest yield was recorded in the untreated control (11.66 Mt/ha). Overall, the study suggests the use of cypermethrin, Spinosad, and <em>Beauveria bassiana</em> for managing RPB in Summer squash in the local context of Gauradaha.</p> Bhimlal Bhandari Nirajan Parajuli Ankit Soti Copyright (c) 2026 Author(s). The licensee is the journal publisher. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 2026-06-01 2026-06-01 13 3 1 15 10.9734/ajahr/2026/v13i3473