Integrated Pest Management

Defoliators

Bihar hairy caterpillar (Spilosoma obliqua)

Identification & Monitoring

• The adult is a medium sized brown moth with a red abdomen.
• Eggs are laid in clustered on the under side of leaves.
• The larvae are covered with long yellowish to black hairs.
• Pupation takes place in the soil under dry foliage and debris.
• It is a major pest of sunflower

Damage

• Young larvae feed gregariously mostly on the under surface of the leaves.
• Caterpillars feed on leaves and in severe infestation the whole crop is defoliated.
• Drying up of infected leaves is the main symptom

Cultural Control

• Deep summer ploughing.
• Use of well rotten manures.
• Timely sowing and clean cultivation.
• Intercropping with pigeon pea at a row ratio of 2:1 is effective in reducing the insect attack.

Mechanical Control

• Hand or Mechanical collection and destruction of larvae.

Biological Control

• Spray with NSKE 5% if insect population ETL.
• Release parasitoids like Charops obtusus

Chemical Control

• If the insect population is above ETL the an application of following insecticide is recommended.
• Endosulfan 4% dust at 20 -25 kg/ha OR
• Phosolan 35 EC at 1000ml/ha.

Tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura)

Identification & Monitoring

• Moth lays eggs on the underside of leaves in masses (100-300).
• Eggs are round, white and covered with small hairs.
• The larvae are green to greenish black with yellow spots.
• Population take place in the soil.
• Pupa is brown and 1.9 cm long
• Longevity of adults is 9-10 days, 6-8 generations/year.
• It is a major pest of sunflower.

Damage

• The larvae feed on the tender leaves, shoots, bracts and petals.
• Later, the larvae spread in the field causing defoliation.
• The larvae also feeds on the developing seeds in capitulum.

Cultural Control

• Deep summer ploughing.
• Use of well rotten manures.
• Timely sowing and clean cultivation.
• Intercropping with pigeon pea at a row ratio of 2:1 is effective in reducing the insect attack.

Mechanical Control

• Install light trap to monitor moth population there by reducing egg laying and pest population.
• Use of Pheromone traps (4 traps/acre) for pest intensity identification as well as to trap the male moths.
• Collect and destroy egg masses, larvae and damaged leaves.

Biological Control

• If eight egg masses observed per 100 m row of crop-spray 5% Neem kernal extract preferably in the evening.
• Release egg parasitoid, Trichogramma evanescens minutum, larval parasites like Apanteles prodenjae, Cotesia spp., Peribaea sp. predatory stink bug, Cantheconidia furcellata and pupal parasitoids like Tetrastichus ayyari, Metopius sp. and Trichospilus pupivora.
• Release entomopathogenic fungi, Monuraea rileyi, bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus.
• Release S-NPV @ 250LE/ha for parasitizing the larvae. (S-NPV @ 250 LE/ha with 0.2% jaggery is more effective)
• Conserve spiders, Chrysoperia, predatory bugs, insectivorous bird.

Chemical Control

• Apply chemical pesticides only if the pest population crosses the ETL.
• Spray Chloriphyriphos or Endosulphan or Quinalphos @ 2 ml/l of water.
• Add and mix one liter of Monocrotophos or one kg of Carbaryl and 1 kg of Jaggery with 10 kg of rice bran; and
• Mix with water and made into small balls and keep the balls at each plant.

Cabbage semilooper (Trichoplusia ni, Thysanoplusia orichalcea)

Identification & Monitoring

• The pest appear in August and remain for 2 or 3 months.
• The presence of small transparent leaf spot, devoid of chlorophyll symbolizes the beginning of pest population.
• The larva is about 4 cm., semilooper, long, slender and pale green.
• The pupation occurs in white transparent silken cocoon in folded leaf.
• This is one of the major pest of sunflower.

Damage

• The young larvae feed on chlorophyll contents and make part of leaf transparent.
• The larvae feed on the leaf margins and during severe infestation only midribs are left.

Biological Control

• Release Copidosoma floridanum, Enicospilus sp. and Disophrys lutea for monitoring the larvae.
• Conserve bio control agents like green muscardine fungus.

Chemical Control

• If the insect population is above ETL the an application of following insecticide is recommended.
• Apply quinalphos 25 EC @ 650-750 ml/ha
• Apply Endosulfan 4% dust @ 20-25 Kg/ha.
   

Capitulum borer (Head borer) (Heliothis armigera)

Identification & Monitoring

• The eggs are yellowish-green laid singly on the leaves.
• The full grown larva is 2.04-2.31 cm in length.
• Pupation takes place in soil for 10-13 days.
• There may be 7-8 generation/year.
• It is a serious and destructive pest of sunflower.

Damage

• The larva feeds on the developing seeds and bore the head.
• Fungal developed and head starts rotting.
• The larva consumes leaf in early stage of growth and move towards the capitulum and tunnel the head.
• Heads are damaged seriously causing a huge amount of field loss.

Cultural Control

• Inter crops like, Green gram, Black gram, Groundnut, Soybean.
• Sow 3-4 lines of maize (or) jowar around the sunflower crop to monitor the moth.
• Sow trap crops like marigold at 50 plants/acre.
• Use resistant varieties.
• Intercrop sunflower + pigeon pea.

Mechanical Control

• Use of pheromone traps (4 traps/acre) for pest intensity identification as well as to trap the male moths.
• Setting of light traps (1 light trap/5 acre) to know the range of pest incidence as well as to kill moth population.
• Arrange 10-bird perches/acre.

Biological Control

• Release predators like Coccinellids, Chrysoperla carnea @ 1 larva/ head.
• Release parasitoides like Trichogramma spp. @ (20,000/acre), Bracon spp., Campoletis spp.
• Release Bacillus thuringenisis (soil bacteria), Beauveria bassiana (fungi) Nomuraea rileyi (fungi), HNPV.
• Spray H-NPV 250 LE + Bt @0.5kg/ha for effective control.
• Release H-NPV 250 LE/ha + 1 kg Jaggery + 200ml Sandovit (or) Teepal; mixing and spray in the evening hours only.
• Spraying 5% Neem oil before egg laying. 5 kg Neem Kernal extract /acre.

Chemical Control

• Apply chemical pesticides on recommended doses only if pest population crosses the ETL.
• Spray H-NPV @ 250 LE/ha + endosulfan 35 EC @ 1 ml/l in the beginning at flowering stage
• Spray Monocrotophos 2.0 ml/lt of water; or
• Endosulfan 3 ml/l of water
• Quinalphos 3m/lt of water
• Propenophos 2m/lt of water
• Chlorophyriphos 2.5m/lt of water
• Carboryl 1kg/acre.
• Fenvalrate 250 m/acre
• Cypermethin 10 EC 400 ml/acre
• Decamethrin 2.8 EC 300 ml/acre

Sap Feeders

Thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis)

Identification & Monitoring

• These insects are very small, about the size of a flea.
• The young are yellow or white.
• Adults are darker and brownish with or without stripes on their backs.
• Inspect the upper surface of the leaves for brownish damaged areas on either side of the mid-vein.
• Insects congregate at the mid-vein or at the borders of damaged areas and feed on healthy tissue.

Damage

• Thrips feed inside developing flower buds and in newly expanding leaves of plants.
• Their feeding damage is not seen until deformed flowers and leaves expand, leaving plants unmarketable

Cultural Control

• Mixed cropping of sunflower with cotton.
• Planting in the month of June and August may be avoided

Biological Control

• Conserve Coccinellids, predatory lygaeid Geocoris tricolor and Anthocoris sp., several mantids.

Chemical Control

• Treating the seeds with insecticide Imidacloprid 70 WS at 5 g/kg of seeds before sowing which will give protection against thrips for 30 days.
• Spraying of insecticide Imidacloprid 17.8 SL at 0.25 ml/litre or oxydematon methyl at 1.5 ml/litre after 30 days of sowing.

Whitefly (Bemesia tabaci)

Identification & Monitoring

• Eggs are laid singly on the lower surface of the leaves.
• Eggs hatch in about a week’s time.
• The nymph stage remains attached on the lower side of leaves and takes about 4 weeks to complete development.
• Highly polyphagous generally appears from November to February.
• Number of generations varies between 12-15 per year.
• Nymphs are oval, scale like and remain attached to the leaf surface.
• Adults are tiny, moth like with yellowish body and wings coated with milky white waxy powder.
• 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.
• This is major pest of sunflower

Damage

• Nymphs and adults suck the sap usually from the under surface of the leaves and excrete honeydew
• This cause a medium for growth of black moulds.
• Later, when attack is severe, vitality of the plant is lowered.
• Leaves appear sickly and get coated with sooty mold.
• Stunted plant growth, shedding of fruit bodies, It also transmits the leaf curl virus.

Cultural Control

• Deep summer ploughing.
• Clean cultivation.
• Destruction of alternate hosts of insects.
• Intercropping with pigeon-pea at 2:1 row ratio.

Mechanical Control

• Install yellow sticky traps, which are coated with grease/sticky oily materials, which is very effective for controlling.

Biological Control

• Conserve Coccinellids, predatory lygaeid Geocoris tricolor and Anthocoris sp., several mantids.
• Spray any Neem product (5% Neem oil before egg laying) or 5 kg Neem Kernal extract per acre with any sticky material.

Chemical Control

• Seed treatment with imidacloprid at 5g/kg of seeds.
• Spray Trizophos (2.5 ml/l) or Prophanophos (2 ml/l).
• Use of Synthetic pyrithroids increases the intensity of Whitefly.

Leaf hopper (jassids) (Amrasca biguttula)

Identification & Monitoring

• Nymphs are pale greenish almost translucent and walk diagonally.
• Adults are greenish yellow, wedge shaped with a pair of black spots on vertex and a black spot on each of the forewings.
• Female inserts eggs into leaf veins on the underside.
• Eggs hatch in 6-10 days and nymph period is 7-9 days and the winged adults live for 2-3 weeks. Completes 7-8 generations in a year.
• This is one of the major pest of sunflower.

Damage

• The adult and nymph both suck the plant sap.
• The infected leaves show pale yellow colouration.
• In case of heavy infestation the leaves turn inwards.
• The leaf edges may turn light pinkish brown.

Cultural Control

• Clean cultivation.
• Timely sowing.
• Avoid excessive application of nitrogenous fertilizers.
• Destruction weeds.
• Intercropping with pigeon-pea at 2:1 row ratio.
• Mixed cropping of sunflower with cotton.
• Inter crop sunflower with cotton.

Biological Control

• Conserve Coccinellids, predatory lygaeid Geocoris tricolor and Anthocoris sp., several mantids.

Chemical Control

• Application of any one of the following insecticides controls the insect.
• Methyl Dematon 25 EC at 650 ml/ha
  OR
• The above application should be done in about 600 litre water/ha.
• If the infestation persists the application should be repeated at an interval of 15 - 20 days.

Vertebrate pest

Bird Damage  (Psittacula krameri)

Identification & Monitoring

• It is slim, green parakeet with the typical short, heavy, deeply hooked, red bill.
• Hollow space in a tree trunk is the nest of the bid.

Damage

• The birds damage starts from the milky stage and continues till harvest.
• These consumes on an average of 152 seeds.

Cultural Control

• Establishment scare crows in the field so as to distract the birds.
• Bursting of crackers and carbide guns, tying polythene bags.
• Use of bird scaring tape (reflective ribbon or bird scaring ribbon).
• Using bio-acoustic method like pre-recorded distress calls to distract the birds.
• Planting of flowering/fruit bearing trees or shade trees could reduce losses.
• Doing sunflower cultivation in large areas.
• Early planting of crop.

Mechanical Control

• Destruction of bird nest in and around the field.
• Deploy two labourers per hectare to scare away the birds.
• Pruning of perching and breeding places

Biological Control

• Spraying of neem kernal powder solution at 10 g/litre of water after seed shedding repels the birds.