Pest of brinjal | Eggplant

Pest of brinjal crops

Brinjal / eggplant (solanum melongena L.)

List of brinjal pest 

1. Fruit and Shoot Borer
2. Jassids / Leaf Hopper
3. Hadda Beetle
4. Spider Mites
5. Termites
6. Mealybug
7. Tobacco Cutworms
8. Whiteflies
9. Aphid
10. Thrips

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Pest Attack In Brinjal Farming 

1. FRUIT AND SHOOT BORER :-

Fruit and shoot borer (leucinodes orbonalis guenee).

The larvae of L. Orbonalis moulted four times and thus there were five instars.

Total larval development period was completed within mean duration of 12-16 days.

The average life cycle of male and female was 32-35 and 35-37 days respectively.

Brinjal shoot and fruit borer completes its life cycle in 19-43 days.

The initial infestation of shoot and fruit borer during 4th week of august at 47 days after transplanting and peak incidence was observed during 2nd week of september after 114 days of transplanting and thereafter declined gradually with rise in temperature.

Damages :-

The damage to the fruits start soon after transplanting and continuous till harvest of the fruit.

The adult female lays eggs on the ventral surface of the leaves, flower buds, and young fruits.

Short pinkish larvae of the pest initially bore into the terminal shoots resulting in withering and drying of the shoots in the later stage, it bores into the young fruits by making holes and feeds inside which make the fruits unfit for consumption.

Control :-

Cultural control :-

Crop rotation :- continuous cropping of brinjal on the same piece of land should be avoided.

Affected buds, fruits, flower, plants should be removed and destroyed.

Sticky traps should be used.

Intercropping in brinjal (2 rows) with coriander(1 row) or fennel (1 row).

Install pheromone traps @4-5 /acre.

Biological control of fruit and shoot borer of brinjal :-

Use of friend insects :-

Parasitoids :- phanerotoma sp., Eriborus orgenteopilosus, etc.

Predators :- lacewing, ladybird beetle, spider, dragon fly, robber fly, big eyed bug, earwig, and ground bettle, etc.

Spray Azardirachtin 1% fc (extracted from neem).

Apply entomopathogenic nematodes.

Chemical control :-

Spray Emamectin benzoate 5% sg @80g in 200litter of water/acre.

Chlorantraniliprole 18.5% sc @ 80ml in 200-300 litter of water/acre.

Spray Thiacloprid 21.7% sc.

Spray Fenpropathrin 30% EC .

Lamda cyhalothrin 4.9% CS.

Spray Cypermethrin 25% EC .

2. JASSIDS / LEAF HOPPER :-

Biology :-

Egg = Adult female lay eggs on the leaves.

Nymph = the nymphs resemble the adults, but lack wings.

They are pale green in color.

The nymphal periods varies from one to four weeks depending on the temp.

Adult = pale green insects.

Fully developed wings with a prominent black spots on each forewing.

The adult life span may be one to two months.

Damage symptoms :-

Both nymph and adults suck the sap from the lower leaf surfaces through their piercing and sucking mouth parts.

While sucking the plant sap, they also inject toxic saliva into the plant tissues, which leads to yellowing of the plant parts.

Also damage in okra, cotton, and potato, etc.

Control :-

Cultural control :-

Grow okra as a trap crop.

Remove affected plants.

Biological control :- spray NSKE 5% (neem seed kernal extract).

Chemical control :-

Apply phorate 10% CG @ 6000gm per acre.

Spray Phosphamidon 40% SL @ 250-300ml in 200l of water per acre.

Use Quinalphos 20% AF @ 600-700ml in 300-400litter of water.

Thiometon 25% EC @ 60-80ml in 200 l of water/acre.

3. HADDA BEETLE :-

These beetles are considered to be one of the most serious groups of pests damaging eggplant/brinjal.

Biology :-

Egg :- the females lay eggs mostly on the lower leaf .

Each female  lays about 100 - 400 eggs.

Eggs are laid in clusters of 10-40.

Grub :- the grub is creamy white or yellowish in color with black spiny haire on the body.

Grub periods 2 to 5 weeks, depends on temp.

Pupa :- the pupa resemble the grub but is mostly darker in color.

The pupal periods is one to 2 weeks.

Adult :- these brownish or orange colored, hemispherical beetles are larger than other ladybird species.

Damage symptoms :- the grub and adults have chewing mouth parts.

They scraps the chlorophyll from the epidermal layers of the leaves.

The feeding results making holes in the leaves.

Control :-

Mechanical control :-

All life stages are exposed on leaf surfaces, the grub, pupal and adults can easily be found on skeletonized leaves.

Pick off the insects by hand and destroy them.

Biological control :-

Spray NSKE (neem kernal extracts).

Chemical control :-

Spray Cypermethrin 25% EC @ 60- 80 ml in 200l of water per acre.

Quialphos 20% AF @600-700ml in 200-400L of water.

Triazophos 40%EC

Deltamethrin 1% + triazophos 35% EC.

4. SPIDER MITES :-

Biology :- they are minute in size, and vary in color (green, yellow, brown, or orange).

Damage :-

Spider mites usually extract the cell contents from the leaves, leading to the formation of white or yellow speckles on the leaves.

In severe infestation, leaves will completely desiccated and drop off.

Under high population densities, the mites moves to using strands of silk to form a ball like mass, which will be blown by winds to new leaves or plants (in a process known as ballooning).

Control :-

Cultural control :- avoid planting next to infested field

Avoid water and nutrient stress.

Uproot and burn infested plant

Keep the field free of weeds.

Biological control :- spray NSKE (neem seed kernal extract)

Conserve predators such as green lacewings.

Chemical control :-

Fenazaquine 10% EC @500 ml in 200L water/acre.

Dicofol 18.5% EC @500-1000 ml in 200-400 L water/acre.

Malathion 50% EC @ 600ml in 200-400L of water/acre.

5. TERMITES :-

termites are the most important pest of the cereal, vegetables, fruits, plantation crops and cash crops such as wheat, coconut, sugarcane, mango and tomato in india.

termites cause distruction in germinating grains, nursery seedlings, transplanted seedlings, and grown up plants.

loamy soil or sandy loamy soil is the best for development of termites.

their attack is severe where irrigation facilities are inadequate.

they feed on roots, stem of growing plants.

there will be wilting and decaying in all stages of crop plants and plant may succumb(die).

Control :-

cultural method :- Digging out queen and kill her, is the only permanent remedy.

chemical method :- 

Fipronil :- it disrupt the insect central nervous system that kills the insect.

Imidacloprid :- is a broad spectrum insecticide.

Bifenthrin :- kills termites on contact.

6. MEALY BUG :- 

Mealy bug are soft, oval shaped, sap sucking insects. known for the white, cottony, waxy covering on their bodies.

they are common agricultural pest. thriving in warm, moist environment.

Adult females are wingless, and slow moving.

Their white, powdery wax covering around the body margins give them their characteristics, mealy or cottony appearance.

Mealy bug are mostly lived in protected areas such as leaf axils, undersides of leaves, in branch crotches, or on stems near the soil.

Symptoms :-

Infestation are visible as white, cottony, or a general wax covering on plants.

sticky deposits of honeydew and later formation of black sooty mold on honeydew(that later causes fungal diseases).

Damage :-

mealybug use piercing, sucking mouth parts to feed on plant sap.

Stunted growth, yellowing, curling and premature drop of leaves.

dieback of twigs and small branches.

Reduced fruit quality due to wax or sooty mold accumulation.

Control :- 

cultural method :- 

1. regular scouting
2. sanitation
3. ant control
4. water spray
5. use of sticky traps
6. crop rotation with different families

Chemical methods :-

1. Imidacloprid
2. Acetamiprid
3. chlorpyrifos
4. buprofezin

7. TOBACCO CUTWORMS :-

Scientifically known as Spodoptera Litura, are a serious pest for brinjal crops.

They are nocturnal (feed at night).

Causing serious damage by eating leaves, at severe infestation they only leave veins of the plant leaves.

Damage :-

caterpillars chew on leaves, creating large, irregular holes.

In severe cases, they can completely defoliate the plant, leaving only the veins.

They cut the stems of young seedling at or just below the soil surfaces, causing the plants to wilt and die (hence known as cutworm).

Control practices of tobacco cutworms :-

cultural control :-

1. plough the field to expose and kill pupae hiding in the soil.
2. handpick and destroying the eggs, larvae, and grown up caterpillars.

Biological control :-

Plant trap crops like Castor, Sunflower, or taro. around the brinjal field(the pest will attracted to these plants).

spray the nuclear polyhedrosis viruses(NPV).

setup light and pheromone trape to attracts and kill adult moths.

Chemical control :-

1. Cypermethrin
2. Bifenthrin
3. Lamda Cyhalothrin
4. Emamectin Benzoate
5. Chlorantraniliprole
6. Acephate

8. WHITEFLIES :- Whiteflies | Life cycle | infestation and control

9. APHIDS :- Life cycle of an aphids

10. THRIPS :- The life cycle of thrips