Management of pod borer in chickpea
|
The pest is insecticide resistant
|
CHICKPEA IS often infected with pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera.
Chemical insecticides are used indiscriminately to combat the pod borer insect, which is a major concern especially when the produce is consumed as raw food.
Because of heavy usage of insecticides, the chickpea pod borer has become insecticide resistant and also poses harm to humans, which has compelled scientists to invent a new class of insecticides.
These new insecticides are highly effective at very low dosage against this pest.
Nature of damage
Female moths lay creamy round eggs singly on the leaflets, flowers and on tender pods. A single female can lay 400 to 500 eggs.
The eggs hatch in 4-5 days and the caterpillars scrape the green chlorophyll off the leaflets and pods. The damaged leaflets become dry and fall off. The scraping continues for 8-10 days and the grown up caterpillars search for flower buds, flowers and pods.
The flower buds and flowers may be completely devoured. The caterpillars bore holes on the pods and feed on the seed.
After completely devouring one pod they go to another and cause similar damage.
Activity of the pod borer is noticed on chickpea throughout the crop period from 10-12 days seedling stage till pod maturity.
Pest management
Application of two sprays of either indoxacarb 14.5 SC at 0.3 ml or spinosad 45 SC at 0.1 ml one at peak flowering stage and another at pod formation stage is found to be effective. A total of 200 litres of spray solution is required to cover one acre of crop.
J.B. GOPALI
& SUHAS YELSHETTY
Agricultural Research Station, Gulbarga
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Sci Tech
