Influence of weather factors on abundance and management of serpentine leaf minor, Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) on tomato

The study indicated that the peak incidence of Liriomyza trifolii was noticed during March-April (4.9 & 3.9; 4.4 & 3.7 mines/leaf), which coincided with vegetative and reproductive stages of the crop and population declined during November-December (5.4 & 4.7; 4.9 & 5.0 mines/leaf), due to natural parasitization. The highly significant negative correlation was observed with mean rainfall (−0.6481 & −0.5863), total rainfall (−0.7206 & −0.6976) and number of rainy days (−0.7001 & −0.7114). The positive non-significant correlation was observed with L. trifolii population and maximum and minimum temperatures (0.1172 & 0.2648; 0.1193 & 0.2398, respectively) and morning and evening relative humidity (−0.2510 & −0.3258; −0.2601 & −0.3187, respectively) in both the locations. Deltamethrin 0.028% + honge oil 0.1% was found to be superior in controlling leaf miner with higher fruit yield (18.78 t/ha), followed by deltamethrin 0.028% (18.12 t/ha) and methomyl 0.05% (14.60 t/ha). The endosulfan 0.07% + NSKE 3% (11.37 t/ha) and endosulfan 0.07% (11.22t/ha) were least effective against leaf miner.