1Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, GLA University, Mathura-281 406, Uttar Pradesh, India
2Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, A.N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Ayodhya-224 229, Uttar Pradesh, India
3Department of Entomology, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj-211 007, Uttar Pradesh, India
4College of Agriculture, C.S.A. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur-208 002, Uttar Pradesh, India
5School of Agricultural Sciences, K.R. Mangalam University, Gurugram-122 103, Haryana, India
6Narayan Institute of Agricultural Science, Gopal Narayan Singh University, Rohtas-821 305, Bihar, India
*Corresponding Author: Sushant Kumar, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, GLA University, Mathura-281 406, Uttar Pradesh, India, Email: ksushant020@gmail.com
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important pulses crops cultivated widely for its high nutrition value and soil fertility improvement through biological nitrogen fixation. However, its productivity is significantly affected by several insect pests, particularly pod borers.
A field experiment was conducted during the rabi season of 2022-23 and 2023-24 for which “Udai” variety of chick pea was sown during the last week of October and the observations on insect pest population were recorded weekly using standard sampling methods. The population of major pests was correlated with abiotic factors such as temperature, relative humidity and rainfall to determine their influence on the pest incidence.
The major insect pests observed in the chickpea ecosystem were Helicoverpa armigera, Aphis craccivora, Spodoptera litura and Empoasca kerri, which appeared after December and gradually increased up to February. The peak population was recorded during the 6th-7th SMW with 2.60 larvae m-1 row of H. armigera, 10.73 aphids plant-1 of A. craccivora, 1.50 larvae m-1 row of S. litura and 2.50 hoppers plant-1 of E. kerri. Correlation analysis revealed that maximum temperature showed a positive relationship with H. armigera (r = 0.52), A. craccivora (r = 0.24), S. litura (r = 0.34) and E. kerri (r = 0.35), while relative humidity exhibited a negative association with pest population. Rainfall showed a weak positive correlation with the incidence of major insect pests.
Abiotic factors, Chickpea, Correlation, Insects pest complex, Seasonal Incidence
