Department of Entomology, J.N. Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
The black gram is infested by six major pests viz., green jassid, green semilooper, bean aphid, eumolpid flea beetle, pea thrips and pod borer. The eumolpid flea beetle, Cplposcelis kanaraensis (Jacoby), appears to be the first record.
The early varieties Pant U-30 and JU-78-4 were less infested by the pest complex and also high yielding than others.
The crop treated with insecticides gave an increased yield of 3 to 6 q/ha (30 to 58 per cent more) over the untreated (benefit/cost ratio 3.9 to 4.9), saving an avoidable loss of 23 to 37 per cent due to the pest complex of black gram.
