Monitoring of Major pests on cucumber, sweet pepper and tomato under net-house conditions in Punjab, India

Major insect, mite and nematode pests on cucumber, sweet pepper and tomato grown under net house were monitored in Punjab, India during 2008–09. The red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) was the predominant pest of cucumber. Leaf miner (Liriomyza trifolii Burgess) incidence was considerably low, and whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) was noticed only during the early season. Thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood) and broad mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus Banks) were serious pests on sweet pepper. The aphid (Aphis gossypii Glover) was the only insect found on tomato during early crop stages. The incidence of aphid was very low and whitefly was negligible. Tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura Fabricius) damage was around 5 per cent on cucumber and tomato, and 23.75 per cent on sweet pepper during the later growth stages. The root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood) population was not recorded at the time of transplanting in most net houses, but gradually increased over the growing season in all the three crops. In general, farmers applied prophylactic insecticide sprays to manage sucking insect pests in net houses.