Seasonal Incidence and Control of Pod Borer (Euborellia AnnulIpes) and Cercospora Leaf Spots in Groundnut

Field experiments were conducted in the Mahadeva hills of Manipur to study the seasonal incidence and control of pod-borer (Euborellia annulipes Lucas)and ‘Tikka’ disease (Cercospora spp.) of groundnut. Fortnightly $owing of the crop showed low incidence of this insect and disease in April and early May sowings. Disease mul-tiplication, however, was faster as compared to insect in the later sowings and resul-ted into very low pod ard kernel yield. It was, therefore, indicated that the applica-tion of pesticides was unavoidable to restore the yield.

Basal application of heptachlor (5%) dust was found significantly superior in re-ducing pod-borer infestation and increasing the yield followed by BHC (10%) and carbaryl (5%), each @ 1.0 kg a.i. ha⁻¹. Yield was minimum when the insecticide was applied at sowing time. Among the fungicides evaluated against ‘tikka’ disease, fortnightly spraying of chlorothalonil (Daconil, 0.2%), mixture of carbendazim (Bavi-stin, 0.05%) + mancozeb (Dithane M-45, 0.2%) and carbepdazim (0;05%) were found significantly superior in increasing the pod yield, followed by mancozeb (0.2%).