Population dynamics of sucking pests in relation to weather parameters in chilli pepper

Abstract

Investigations on present studies were carried out at Samajik Vigyan Kendra, Dr B R Ambedkar University during the Rabi season of 2018-19 and 2019-20. Two economically significant pests viz., thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood) and whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.) were investigated for their population dynamics against
weather parameters. Results revealed that the incidence of thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood) started from third week after transplanting (WAT) i.e 2nd week of October and continued till the crop maturity and reached to peak level (5.8 thrips/leaf) during 17th WAT i.e. 3rd week of January. The incidence of whitefly
(Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) commenced from 3rd WAT i.e. second week of October and being peaked at 11th WAT i.e. second week of December (7.8 whiteflies/leaf). Among various weather parameters, maximum, minimum and average temperature showed highly significant negative correlation with thrips. Maximum, minimum and average temperature had significant negative correlation with the population of whitefly.