Integrated Pest Management

Defoliators

Blister beetle (Mylabris pustula)

Identification & Monitoring

• Polyphagous beetles feeding on crops with yellow or pink flowers. Found throughout the country.
• Adults are medium sized beetles with black head, thorax and abdomen.
• Elytra are black in colour with a round orange spot and two
  transverse wavy orange bands across the wings.
• Eggs are usually laid in the soil.

Damage

• Adults feed on flowers of green gram and affect pod set.
• When distributed the beetles exude an acrid yellow fluid which is called cantharidin and causes blisters on tender skin.

Cultural Control

• Adults can not be easily killed with the insecticides.
• Avoid excess application of nitrogen.
• Use of pheromone and light traps at night to control and prevent adult beetles from reproducing.

Chemical Control

• Manual collection or collection with insect net and killing of adults in kerosenized water appears to be the only possible solution.

Gram caterpillar (Helicoverpa armigera)

Identification & Monitoring

• The adult is a medium sized light pale brownish yellow stout moth; fore wings are olive green to pale brown with a dark brown
  circular spot in the centre; hind wings are pale smoky white with a broad blackish outer margin.
• The larva is about 3.5 cm long, variable in colour, but usually greenish brown, sparsely hairy and with dark yellow stripes.

Damage

• The young larva feeds on leaves by scraping green tissue for short time and then bores into the pods and feeds on the seeds with its head thrust inside and most part of the body outside.

Cultural Control

• Deep summer ploughing should be practiced so that the larvae /pupae are exposed to the sun and are preyed upon by predators.
• The crop should be sown timely, sowing should be completed up to 1st week of July.
• Intercropping and mixed cropping should be practiced.
• Excessive application of nitrogen should be avoided.

Mechanical Control

• Light traps should be used at night and adult insect should be collected in the morning and should be killed.
• 5 to 8 pheromone traps/ha should be used and trapped adult insects should be taken out and killed, this effectively reduces the reproduction rate and controls the insect population.

Biological Control

• Conserve parasites of gram caterpillar like Trichogramma sp., chelonus sp., Apanteles sp., Bracon and Campoletis chloride, goniozus sp.
• Bt and NP Virus are good parasitoids

Chemical Control

• Quinalphos 25 EC @1000 ml OR Endosulfan 35EC 800 ml OR Deltamethrin 2.8 EC @750 ml/ha dissolved in 600-750 litres of water and spray.
• If needed, repeat spray after 15 days.

Spotted pod borer (Maruca testulalis)

Identification & Monitoring

• Adult moth is medium sized with dark brown forewings which have a prominent white line along the anterior margin.
• Hind wings are whitish in colour.
• Full grown larva is about 2 cm long, brownish green with black warts.

Damage

• The larva webs the leaves together, sometimes flowers and pods may be webbed together.
• Young caterpillar enters the bud, flower or the pod.
• Within the pod it feeds on the seeds.
• The entrance hole is plugged with excreta.
• The larva may bore into the tender stem as well.

Cultural Control

• Sow resistant varieties like J-1, LM 11, PS 26 and P 336.
• Deep ploughing.
• Early sowing.
• Proper seed rate, fertiliser management to have a desirable crop stand.
• Intercultural and hand weeding to keep the crop weed free initially for 4-6 weeks.

Biological Control

• Conserve ants (camponotus) and praying mantids as these are good predators of egg and larva of the pest.

Chemical Control

• Spray Quinalphos 25 EC 1500 ml or Endosulfan 35 EC @ 1000 ml/ha and disslove in 600-750 litres of water per hectare.

Tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura)

Identification & Monitoring

• Highly polyphagous and cosmopolitan in nature.
• Though tobacco and tomato are major hosts, it has been recorded on many crop plants.
• Moths are stout, dark brown with greyish-brown forewings patterned with wavy white markings.
• Hind wings are opaque or semi-hyaline white with dark brown marginal line.
• Eggs are dirty white, round, laid in masses, covered with anal tuft of hair.
• Caterpillars are 40-50 mm long, pale brown with a greenish to violet tinge, posses a sub-marginal series of narrow yellow spots having  black lunules above them, and lateral series of purplish-black spots.

Damage

• Freshly hatched caterpillars feed gregariously by scraping the chlorophyll, later disperse, feed voraciously at night on the foliage.

Mechanical Control

• Look for the plants infested with 1st/2nd instar larvae of Hairy Caterpillar, collect (for hairy caterpillar) and destroy them. (Hairy Caterpillar has definite egg laying pattern in masses. 1st/2nd instar larvae remain restricted to leaves of plants where eggs have been laid.
• Collection and destruction of egg masses and freshly hatched larvae along with skeletonised leaves.
• Install light traps.

Biological Control

• Conserve Bracon hebator, Chelomus blackburni, NPV, Tetrastichus sp.

Chemical Control

• Spraying neem to prevent egg laying and placement of poison bait with monocrotophos for grown up larvae are recommended to reduce the incidence of pest.

Sucking Pest

Aphids (Aphis craccivora)

Identification & Monitoring

• The adults are black and shiny, up to 2 mm long and some are winged.
• Nymphs are covered with waxy coating that makes them grey and dull.
• Nymphs and adults colonise on young stem, leaves, flowers and pods.
• Visit regularly and observe for the insect at borders in early stages.

Damage

• Attacks a large number of pulses and leguminous crops.
• Nymphs and adults are seen in large number on young plants, leaf lets, stem and pods.
• Young leaves of seedlings become twisted on aphid attack.
• Excretion of honey dew attracts sooty mold.

Cultural Control

• Early sowing.
• Clean cultivation.
• Avoid excess use of nitrogen and water.

Biological Control

• In nature these are prayed by cocinellid beetles and chrysoperia. So conserve lady beetles, green lace wing, diaretiella rapae, menochiles sexamaculatus.

Chemical Control

• Spray Phosphomidon @250 ml dissolved in 600- 700 litre water for one hectare.
  OR
• Methyl Demeton 25 EC 500 ml in 600 litre water /ha and spray.
• If required second spray after 15 days.

Jassids (Empoasca kerri)

Identification & Monitoring

• Adults are green, small in size, wings folded in a roof-like manner over body.
• Nymphs resemble the adults (except for wings) and move diagonally or side ways on disturbance.
• Monitor the field regularly for the insect incidence.

Damage

• The nymphs and adults suck sap from the under surface of the leaves.
• Attacked leaf lets become cup shaped and yellow at the edges.
• Heavy attack results in reddish-brown leaf lets with subsequent defoliation.

Cultural Control

• Early and or timely sowing of the crop.
• Avoid excess use of nitrogen and water.

Mechanical Control

• Spray phosphomidon@ 250 ml in 600-700 litre water/ha.
  OR
• Spray Methyl demetone 25 EC in 500 ml in600-700 litre water/ha.

Biological Control

• Conserve predators like lady beetles, ants, distina albiada, chrysopa cymbela.
• Conserve egg parasites like gonatocerus spp and oligosita sp.

Chemical Control

• Spray phosphomidon@ 250 ml in 600-700 litre water/ha.
  OR
• Spray Methyl demetone 25 EC in 500 ml in600-700 litre water/ha.

Pod sucking bugs (Anoplocnemis phasiana)

Identification & Monitoring

• Pod bugs are serious pest.
• Adults of Anoplocnnemis are brown or black, with rounded shoulders.
• Clavigralla spp. are brownish-grey in colour with spine-like projections on shoulders.

Damage

• Both nymphs and adults suck sap from the developing seeds through the pod wall.
• Pods show yellow patches on feeding sites, seeds become shriveled and lose germination ability.

Cultural Control

• Deep ploughing.
• Ensure good crop stand.
• Clean cultivation.
• Crop rotation.
• Early sowing.
• The above practices are effective in reducing insect infestation.

Chemical Control

• Monocrotophos 36 SL 400 ml
  OR
• Endosulfan 35 EC 800 ml
  OR
• Dimethioate 30 EC 400 ml dissolved in 600-800 litres of water and spray.
• If needed, repeat spray after 15 days.

Thrips (Taeniothrips spp.)

Identification & Monitoring

• Adults are minute with highly fringed wings.
• Monitor plant health at different stages.

Damage

• Thrips feed on tender leaves, flowers and pods, as a result the plant remains stunted.
• The pod formation is prevented and the development of pods is arrested.
• It also acts as vector of leaf curl disease.
• It may occur at the early stages of the crop growth.

Cultural Control

• Deep ploughing, early planting and optimum fertiliser application are helpful in establishing good crop stand.

Biological Control

• Use by control agent Chyrsoperla @ 20000/ha .

Chemical Control

• Spray 35 EC Endosulfan 1-1.2 litres dissolved in 600-700 litres of water/ha.
  OR
• Methyl Demeton 25 EC 500 ml in 600-700 litres of water per hectare.

White fly (Bemisia tabaci)

Identification & Monitoring

• Adults are small, moth-like with white, waxy powdered wings.
• The short stalked eggs are attached to the under surface of the leaves.
• Routinely check all parts of all fields for whiteflies using adult and nymph scouting methods.
• When populations exceed the thresholds, treat them where needed.
• Be especially alert for rapid whitefly buildup when nearby host crops are in decline.

Damage

• Attack is in early stages of plant growth.
• First, instars nymph crawl on leaf lets, and keep sucking sap.
• Nymphs and adults suck sap usually from under surface of leaves, excrete honey dew.
• The whitefly is a potent vector of yellow mosaic virus (YMV) and most of the crop loss is due to YMV since even a small population can transmit the disease.
• In case of severe infection of YMV very few pods are produced.
• The pod size is reduced, grains shriveled and reduced in size.
• The YMV cause losses in yield up to 70% in green gram.

Cultural Control

• Sow resistant varieties.

Biological Control

• Conserve Chrysopa spp, Brumus spp (predators) as it predated upon immature stages of the pest.
• Conserve Eretomocerus masii, Geocoris tricolor (parasites).

Chemical Control

• Spray Endosulfan 35 EC 1.0 -1.25 litres per hectare after dissolving in 600-800 litres water.
  OR
• Quinalphos 25 EC 1.5 litres/ha after dissolving in 600-800 litres water.
• In areas, where heavy incidence of YMV is a regular feature, seed treatment with imadacloprid may be done.
• Spraying with deltramethrin 2.8 EC 400ml/ha or 25 EC of Cypermethrin 200 ml/ha or 35 EC endosulfan 2.5l/ha in 600 - 650 litres of water/ha.