24 Apr Oil palm leaf webworm, an emerging serious pest and its management in oil palm gardens
तेल ताड़ का पत्ता वेबवॉर्म, एक उभरता हुआ गंभीर कीट और तेल ताड़ के बागानों में इसका प्रबंधन Oil palm (ElaeisguineensisJacquin: Arecaceae) is known to be the highest edible oil yielding perennial crop, capable of yielding 4-5 MT of palm oil and 0.4-0.5 MT palm kernel oil with good planting material, irrigation and proper management. However, the productivity is not achieved due to infestation by a wide range of fauna which include insects, birds, mites and mammals, apart from diseases, nutrient deficiencies, water stress etc. As the oil palms grow and attain tallness, the leaves of adjacent palms are overlapped, thereby preventing sunlight penetration in the plantations, a more favourable environment is created for the pests to proliferate and cause severe outbreaks in oil palm. There are at least 80 species of arthropods are associated with oil palm and many are potential pests and some are serious and inflicting heavy damage on oil palms in India. Recently, a new species, Acriameyricki (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae) (Shashank and Ramamurthy) is described and reported from Andhra Pradesh, India infesting on oil palm for the first time. The pest is often referred as oil palm leaf webworm, because, the caterpillars spin a protective white silk web sheltering them while eroding the leaflets. It was first noticed during the winter months...