Management of cotton white mite
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High humidity favours the spread of this pest
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The white mite is an occasional pest of cotton in all the cotton growing areas. It feeds on a wide variety of agricultural crops.
Damage symptoms
The damage by white mite will be severe when it appears early in cotton growing season.
Both nymphs and adults suck the sap from the under surface of the tender leaves.
Due to feeding the blades of first three fully opened leaves at top exhibit marginal curling and dark green colour.
Brittle leaves
Mite feeding causes lesions, marginal curling, limb laceration and the affected leaves' lamina become brittle.
Finally the brittle leaves become perforated. Infestation during flowering stage leads to shedding of young bolls and boll weight is reduced.
The development stages of white mite include egg, nymph, pupa and adult. The oval and elongate eggs are attached to the under surface of the leaves.
The nymphs pass without moulting into an inactive stage called pupae before hatching into adults. High humidity favours the spread of this pest.
Pest management
Specific acaricide treatment against white mite is required and the complete coverage of the foliage is essential to control this pest
Spraying dicofol (kelthane) at 1.5 -2 lit diluted in water or wettable sulphur (Thiovit) at 1.5-2 kg for one hectare is found to be effective in checking this pest.
K. Natarajan
& M. Alagar
Central Institute for
Cotton Research
Regional station
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
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