Survey of Aphid Vectors of Potato Viruses in the Plains of the Punjab

Survey of aphid vectors of potato viruses at weekly intervals was carried out in the plains of the Punjab at Amritsar, Bassi Daulat Khan (Hoshiarpur), Khane-ke-Ahal (Ferozepur), Khanna (Ludhiana) and Ludhiana on autumn crops of potato in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Such survey on the spring crop was conducted at Bassi Daulat Khan in 1967 and at Ludhiana during 1968 and 1969. During the survey, 7 aphid species, namely, Myzus persicae Sulzer, Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis fabae Scopoli, Lipaphis erysimi Kaltenbach, Macrosiphum sp., Rhopalosiphum maidis Fitch and R. rufiabdominalis Sasaki were recorded. Among these, M. persicae, the principal vector was the common. Its earliest appearance was on November, 12; November, 13; December, 7; December, 11 and December, 14 at Bassi Daulat Khan, Amritsar, Khanna, Khane-ke-Ahal and Ludhiana, respectively.

Its population increased to critical level or higher on November, 28; December, 10; December, 22 and January 3 at Amritsar, Bassi Daulat Khan, Ludhiana, and Khanna respectively. But it remained below the critical level at Khane-ke-Ahal. Its peak population was in the first fortnight of March. The utility of the findings in the production of healthy seed potato in the plains of the Punjab has been discussed.