Managing the pests of oilseed crops in an ecofriendly way

Abstract

To minimize the demand and supply gap of edible oils in India, it is necessary to save oilseed crops from ravages of a number of dreaded insect-pests during their cultivation for sustainable oilseeds production. These insect-pests are also responsible for reduction of seed quantity as well as oil content of seeds. The oilseed crops, i.e. rapeseed-mustard, sunflower, groundnut, soybean, sesame, linseed, safflower, castor and coconut are being attacked by various insect-pests of significant importance across the country. Efforts have been made to describe major insect-pests of these crops, their nature and extent of damage with best possible tools of pest control available in an eco and user friendly manner based on recommendations made by ICAR institutes, SAU’s and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Faridabad.