International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education (IJSRME) Impact Factor: 7.137, ISSN (Online): 2455 – 5630 (www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume 3, Issue 1, 2018 10 SEASONAL INCIDENCE OF SUCKING PESTS AND THEIR NATURAL ENEMIES IN COTTON Yogesh D. Charjan*, Sonali R. Wankhade** & G. V. Karale*** Associate Professor (Agronomy), Agricultural Research Sub-Centre, Achalpur, Amravati, Maharashtra Cite This Article: Yogesh D. Charjan, Sonali R. Wankhade & G. V. Karale, “Seasonal Incidence of Sucking Pests and their Natural Enemies in Cotton”, International Journal of Scientific Research and Modern Education, Volume 3, Issue 1, Page Number 10-15, 2018. Copy Right: © IJSRME, 2018 (All Rights Reserved). This is an Open Access Article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract: Field studies were undertaken at the Agricultural Research Sub-centre, Achalpur, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola (MS) to study the seasonal incidence of sucking pests and their natural enemies on cotton during Kharif season of 2014-15. It was observed that cotton was affected by group of sucking pests viz., aphid, leaf hoppers, thrips, whitefly and their damage continued throughout the crop season. Aphid was observed throughout growing season up to 48 th MW and attained initial peak during 32 nd MW. Leaf hopper reached its peak during 36 th MW whereas incidence of thrips was initiated in 33 rd MW and continued up to 41 th MW and attained initial peak during 36 th MW. Incidence of whitefly was first observed and was at its peak during 32 nd MW (5.8/ leaf). Predator activity was observed throughout the season form 32 nd MW to 48 th MW with disappearance in 42 nd and 43 rd MW. Key Words: Seasonal Incidence, Sucking Pests, Natural Enemies & Cotton Introduction: Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) as “King of the Fibre” is one of the most ancient and important cash crop in India and plays a significant role in the Indian national economy. It is grown on a large scale almost in all the tropical and sub-tropical countries like India, U.S.A., Mexico, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Brazil, Sudan, Uganda and China. The major reason for the low productivity in cotton is damage caused by insect pests. In India, as many as 162 species of insect-pests are known to attack cotton from sowing to maturity which cause up to 50-60% loss (Agarwal et al., 1984). Cotton pests can be primarily divided into bollworms and sucking pests. Among sucking pests, aphid Aphis gossypii (Glover), leafhoppers Amrasca biguttula biguttula (Ishida), thrips Thrips tabaci (Lind) and whiteflies Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) are of major importance. These sucking pests occur at all the stages of crop growth and responsible for indirect yield losses. A reduction of 22.85 percent in seed cotton yield due to sucking pests has been reported by Satpute et al. (1990). Therefore in present investigation on seasonal incidence of sucking pests and their natural enemies in cotton was studied at Agricultural Research station, Achalpur. Material and Methods: Present investigations on “Seasonal incidence of sucking pests and their natural enemies in cotton” was carried out at Agricultural Research Sub-centre, Achalpur, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola (MS) during kharif season 2014-15. For recording the pest incidence the seeds of cotton variety AKA-8 were sown at 19 th July, 2014 with 60 cm X 15 cm spacing in the plot measuring 10 X 10 m. All the recommended agronomical practices except plant protection were followed for raising the crop. The populations of sucking pests were recorded at standard week interval during morning hours, starting after germination till the maturity of the crop on 10 randomly selected plants. Aphids, leaf hoppers, thrips and whitefly population count was recorded on top, middle and bottom canopy of each plant. Average No. of aphids, leaf hoppers, thrips, & whitefly were calculated per leaf per plant. The population of ladybird beetles and spiders were recorded from randomly selected plants at weekly intervals. From this, the average populations of natural enemies per plant were worked out. At the end of season, the data obtained were subjected to proper statistical analysis. Results and Discussion: It is revealed from the incidence data presented in tables that during kharif season 2014, aphids, leaf hoppers, thrips, whitefly and predators viz. lady bird beetles and spider were observed on cotton. 1. Seasonal Incidence of Sucking Pests: Incidence of aphids was initiated in 32 nd MW (35.0/ leaf) and aphid population was decrease and increased with subsequent MW up to 48 th MW and was lowest in 42 nd and 43 rd MW (0.2/ leaf). However it was observed throughout growing season up to 48 th MW. It has attained its initial peak during 32 nd MW (35.0/ leaf) which was favored by min. temp. of 31.99 o C and max. temp. of 33.59 o C with morning 95.86 % and evening 78.86 % humidity along with 10.0 mm rainfall and 33 rd MW (8.4/ leaf) which was favored by min. temp. of 31.90 o C and max. temp. of 34.16 o C with morning 93.71 % and evening 68.57 % humidity along with 2.20 mm rainfall. Similar phenomenon has been observed by Vennila et al. (2004) and Raja et al (2007).