Scenario of Insect-pests of Chickpeas in India and Their Eco-friendly Management

Pooja Sinha, Ad hoc Assistant Professor, Dept. of Entomology,

Minakshi Meshram, Ad hoc Assistant Professor, Dept. of Agricultural Extension,

Gulab Das Barman, Ad hoc Assistant Professor, Dept. of Vegetable Science

Devendra Kumar Sahu, Ad hoc Assistant Professor, Dept. of Vegetable Science

Pt.KLS, CHRS, Rajnandgaon, MGUVV

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is known in India by different names: Bengal gram, gram and chana. India is the largest producer of chickpea accounting for 64% of the global production. Chickpea production is constrained by insect-pests. The major insect pest of chickpeas is helicoverpa. Other less frequent pests include: locusts, aphids, cutworms, false wireworms, and blue oat mites.

1. Gram pod borer- Helicoverpa armigera (Noctuidae : Lepidoptera)

Distribution and status: World wide

Host range: Cotton, sorghum, lablab, pea, chillies, groundnut, tobacco, okra, maize, tomato, soybean, safflower, gram, etc.

Damage symptoms: It is a polyphagous species and is an important pest on pulses. Caterpillar first feeds on foliage; later bores into pods and feeds on seeds.

Larva is seen feeding with the head alone thrust inside the parts and the rest of the body hanging out. Boreholes on pods, absence of seeds on pods and defoliation in early stages are the symptoms of attack

ETL: One larva per five plants in the pod initiation stage

Bionomics: Adult moth is greenish to brown with a ‘V’ shaped speck on forewings and dull black border on the hind wing. Eggs are laid on the host plants singly. The egg period is 7 days. Full grown larva is 2” long, greenish with dark brown gray lines and dark and pale bands. It shows colour variation from greenish to brown. The larval duration is 14 days. It pupates in soil for 10 days. One generation is completed in 28 days under favorable conditions.

Management

Grow Helicoverpa resistant varieties like,

Red gram: T 21, Bori, BDN 2, ICPL 332, ICPL 84060, ICPL 88039, PPE 45-2, ICP 19640, ICP 7035, MA 2, Pant A1, BSMR 1, JG 315 and JG 74 for central zone and ICCV 7

Chickpea: ICCV&, ICCVIO, Dulia

Install bird perches @ 50/ha to pick the larvae

Set up light trap to monitor, attract and kill the moths

Set up pheromone traps @ 12 nos./ha

Inundative release of egg parasite Trichogramma spp. and egg larval parasites, Chelonus blackburnii

Spray nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) @ 500 LE/ha in 0.1% teepol..

2. Plume moth: Exelastis atomosa (Pterophoridae: Lepidoptera)

Distribution and status: India, Nepal and New Guinea

Host range: Red gram, lablab, niger and horse gram

Damage symptoms

The tiny larva bores into unopened buds, flowers and tender parts. 5-20% pods are damaged.

Bionomics: Adult is delicate, brown coloured small moth with plumed wings. Eggs are laid on flower buds and tender pods. Egg period is 4 days. Larva is greenish brown, 10 mm in length densely packed with short hairs and spines. Larval period is 14-30 days. It pupates on the pods itself. Pupal period is 4-8 days.

1. Egg on redgram pod, 2. Magnified egg, 3. Larva, 4. details of larva, 5. Pupa, 6, 7. Moths

Management

Conserve Larval parasitoids, Apanteles paludicolae, Diadegma sp.,

Chemical control measures are the same as redgram pod borer.

3. Grass blue butterfly: Euchrysops cnejus (Lycaenidae: Lepidoptera)

Distribution and status: Throughout India. Regular pest

Host range: Blackgram, peas, redgram and lablab.

Damage symptoms: Buds, flowers and young pods with boreholes and presence of slug like caterpillar.

Bionomics: The adult butterfly is blue, medium sized with 5 black spots in the hind wings and two black spots in the inner margin. It lays 60-200 eggs singly on stem, pod, and leaf petioles. They hatch in 2-10 days.

The pale green or yellow larva measures about 13 mm in length with a red line and short black hairs on the body. It feeds on flowers; flower stalks and enters the pod. The entry hole on the pod is plugged with excreta. The larval period is 10-21 days with four instars. It pupates in soil or between fallen leaves and debris of the plant for a period of 5-12 days.

Management for Blue butterfly

Discourage dense or close planting.

Avoid early or late sowing.

Dig soil regularly during the period of infestation to kill larvae and pupae.

Pick and destroy the larvae, pupae & adults.

Release egg parasitoid Trichogramma sp.

Conserve larval parasitoids Aploymia sp., Hyperencyrtus lycaenephila, Listrodromus crassipes.

4. Spotted pod borer: Maruca testulalis (Pyraustidae: Lepidoptera)

Distribution and status: Tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.

Host range: Beans, peas, castor, groundnut, cowpea, rice, sesame, soybean, tobacco, daincha, sugarcane, redgram, lablab, niger, greengram and blackgram.

Damage symptoms: The larva bores the buds, flowers or pods; infested pods and flowers are webbed together. The larva feeds on seeds. The assessment of damage in pigeonpea pods has shown that 5-20% pods may get affected depending upon the locality, month and variety.

Bionomics: Female lays eggs singly on flowers, buds or pods. After hatching larva bores buds or pods and feed on seeds. The full-grown larva is 20 mm in length. It pupates in the dry leaves (or) debris.

Management

Grow resistant cultivars like ICPL 98001, ICPL 98003, ICPL 98008, ICPL 9804

Conserve larval parasitoids Bracon lebetor

5. Pod fly: Melanagromyza obtusa (Agromyzidae: Diptera)

Distribution and status: India, South East Asia, Japan.

Host range: Redgram, Bhendi and Safflower.

Damege symptoms: Maggots cause damage by boring into the soft seeds and feed on grains. The damaged seeds are unfit for consumption as well as for germination. The extent of damage may be even upto 60-70% during severe infestation.

Bionomics: Eggs are laid by them singly or in cluster inside the pod wall by piercing through the ovipositor. The fly lays about 60-80 eggs. Incubation period is 2-4 days. Larval period is about 5-18 days and pupal period varies from 7-10 days. A number of overlapping generations are found in a year.

Management

Conserve natural enemies like Euderus lividus, Eurytoma sp., Euderus agromyzae

6. Stem fly: Ophiomyia phaseoli (Agromyzidae: Diptera)

Distribution and status: India, Sri Lanka, Laos, New South Wales Philippines, Burma, East Indies, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Africa, Fiji, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Samoa.

Host range: Red gram, bean, cowpea, soybean and lima bean

Damage symptoms: Drooping of the tender leaves and yellowing characterize serious damage of young plants. The sites where maggot and pupae are present become swollen and start ribbing. Older plants show stunting but are not usually killed.

Bionomics: The adult is a small black fly. A female lays 38-79 eggs singly on pods or on flower buds. The egg period lasts about 3 days. The maggot first makes galleries just below the epidermis of the seed feeding deeper into the seeds later. Larval period lasts for 5-6 days. The larva pupates in the larval groove for 8-9 days.

Management

Conserve natural enemies like Euderus lividus, Eurytoma sp., Euderus agromyzae

Seed pelleting with chlorpyriphos @ 4 ml/kg of seed may reduce stem fly.

Field bean pod borer: Adisura atkinsoni (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)

Distribution and status: Cold weather pest found throughout India

Host range: Pigeonpea, lablab and niger

Damage symptoms: The larva bores inside the pod and feeds on the seeds within.

Bionomics: Moths are yellowish brown in colour. Eggs are laid singly on flowers, buds and pods. The eggs are minute in size. The egg, larval and pupal periods lasts 3, 14-15 and 11 days respectively. Full grown larva is 28-35 mm long, brownish green in colour. When full fed, caterpillar pupates in rice store. During Febraury to November, it hibernates in the pupal stage.

Management

Conserve natural enemies like Bracon hebetor.

7. Red Gram Sterility Mite: Aceria cajani (Eriophyidae : Acari)

Distribution: Identified only in India where it is widespread and common. It is the vector of the pigeon pea sterility mosaic disease.

Damage symptoms: Infected plant s develop light green or chlorotic leaves which have mosaic patterns . Most infected plants do not bear flowers.

Bionomics: The mites are difficult to see with the naked eye. They are 0.2 mm long, light pink, spindle shaped, and are normally found feeding on the underside of leaf lets. Milky white eggs are found on vegetative terminals. Many nymphs are found on young folded leaflets. Plant - to-plant infestation occurs by the wind dispersal of infective mites.

Management