Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2021) 10(01): 2174-2183 2174 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2021.1001.249 Succession of Major Pests and Predators in Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) Ecosystem R. Das * , D. K. Saikia, A. Devee and S. S. Ahmed Department of Entomology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) is an important commercial crop in India which plays a key role in national economy. India is the biggest producer of okra ranked first in the world (72.9% of the total world production) with 0.53 million ha area, 6.35 million tones production and a productivity of 11.96 t/ha (Anonymous, 2017a). In Assam, the crop is grown in an area of 12.11 thousand ha with an annual production of 191.70 thousand metric tonnes (Anonymous, 2017b). The state is contributing approximately 3.15 per cent of the total production of okra in the country, which is very low compare to other leading states. Despite large area and quite a good number of cultivars, the supply of okra in Indian market is not matching to its demand. The productivity of okra is low due to many factors and one of the most important constraint in production is the attack of insect pests. Okra is attacked by a number of insect pests, which are the major problems in getting higher yields (Kumar et al., 2002). In India, as high as 72 species of insect pests have been recorded on okrawhich cause 48.97% reduction in pod yield (Pal et al., 2013). Hence, if we go for total control of pests, it is very essential to know their time of International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 10 Number 01 (2021) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com In present study, six insect species viz., Aphis gossypii (Glover), Amrascabiguttula biguttula (Ishida), Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and Sylepta derogata (Fabricius), Dysdercus cingulatus (Fabricius) and Earias vittella (Fabricius) were recorded as major pests of okra during rabi and kharif seasons, 2017. It was noticed that, Aphid, jassid, white fly and leaf roller remained fromvegetative to harvesting stage while red cotton bug and shoot and fruit borer appeared from reproductive to harvesting stage of the crop. The coccinellids, viz., Coccinella transversalis (Fabricius) and Menochiluss exmaculatus (Fabricius) were present in field with the population of sucking pests. In rabi season, minimum temperature showed positive significant correlation with D. cingulatus and E. vittella (r = 561 * , 740 * ). All weather parameters showed non significant relationship with pests and predators except morning relative humidity which had significant negative impact on D. cingulatus (r = -0.578*) and E. vittella (r = -0.616*) during kharif, 2017. Keywords Okra, Pest, Predator, Incidence, kharif and rabi seasons Accepted: 12 December 2020 Available Online: 10 January 2021 Article Info