How to control the pests of potato crops?

                       

                                  PESTS OF TUBER CROPS

       

1)  Pests of Potato (Solanum tuberosum) :-----

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(a) Cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon) (Hufn) (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)

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(*) Nature of damage:---  The larvae hide in cracks in soil during day time and at the darkness it becomes active that feed on leaves and alsocut the tender stems of young and growing plants and thus cause the yield reduction of tubers   upto 35%.                                                                                                

Potato damaged by cutworm

 (*) Life cycle:-----  The adult is a dark brown stout moth with a radish tinge and has wavy lines and spots on the fore wings. The female laus abot 300 eggs in groups of 30 on the inder surface of leaves or on moist soil. The larvae is dark brown with a red head and when full grown has a greasy appearance with pupates in an earthen cocoon. The egg, larval and pupal periods are respectively 2-13 , 10-30 days. The total life cycle lasts from 30-68 days depending on weather conditions.                                                                           

                                                                  

                                             

                                                

(*) Management:-------.                                                                                i)  Hand picking and destruction of larvae.

ii) Soil drenching with chloropyriphos 0.1 emulsion before planting.                                                                                    

Soil drenching method

(b) Potato tuber moth ( Phthorimaea operculella Z. ).    (Gelechiidae: Lepidoptera).   :-------.                             

➡️ *This is a Cosmopolitan pest distributed in different parts of India , which gained entry into India about 70 years agofrom Italy. It is a pest of importance on potato both in the field in storage.                                                                                   

This is an intoduced pest to India.                                                 

                                                                

                Potato tuber moth        

(*)  Process of damage :--------  In storage 30-70% of tubers are damaged by the larvae . In the field the larvae mines into leaves or bore into tendee shoots and developing tubers.                   

Potato damaged by the potato tuber moth

(*) Life cycle :--------  The small dark brown moth lays from 100-150 eggs singly on the under surface of leaves or on exposed tubers. Egg period is 3-6 days. The larval period lasts for 5-16 days. Hibernation takes place in the larval or pupal stage in some cooler areas of the country. Pupal period is 5-7 days.                

        

     Life cycle of potato tuber moth

➡️ Management :-----------.                                                                     

i) select healthy tubers.                                                                                              

 

i i)  Fumigation of tubers with methyl bromide at 2.5-5 kg/1000 cu.m. for 3 hours.                                                                        

iii) Spray of phosalone @ 0.07% upon the initial occurrence of the pests in the field.                                                                  

iv) Release of the parasitoid Copidosoma koehleri @ 1.5 lakhs/ tone of stored potato.                                                                 

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