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Sci Tech
Mealy bug an emerging threat to cotton crop
Mealy bug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus, is emerging as a major pest of cotton in India. It attacks more than 300 plant species including rice, sugarcane, cotton, papaya, citrus, mango, rape, banana and vegetables.
Life cycle
Mealy bugs overwinter as eggs on stems, in soil, in cracks and crevices, and inside wrinkled leaves. Freshly laid eggs are orange but turn pink just prior to hatching.
Adult mealy bugs are small (about 3 mm long), are pink in body colour but are covered with white waxy substance. Females can deposit upto 600 eggs and produce upto 15 generations per year, so pest populations can become very large.
Damage symptoms
Mealy bugs feed on the plant sap and release toxic substances and drastically decrease plant height, fruiting and finally, yield. Mealy bugs also attack the roots just below the level of the soil, at the collar region.
White fluffy masses form on buds, leaves, stems, fruits and roots. Curling and drying of leaves.
Shoot tips develop a bushy appearance. Mealy bugs excrete large quantities of honeydew on the plant that develop sooty moulds.
The infested plants are stunted with fewer bolls of smaller size and incomplete opening of bolls. Fruits become deformed and shrivelled. Heavy infestation causes stunting and drying of the plants.
Management
Weeds serve as host plant and therefore they should be eradicated mechanically / chemically regularly. Spray phenthoate at 3 ml/ litre of water as the pest appears.
ABHISHEK SHUKLA, PLANT PROTECTION KRISHI VIGYAN KENDRA JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN
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