28 Jul Emerging pest problems in wheat and their management
गेहूँ में उभरती कीट समस्या एवं उनका प्रबंधन Wheat is the second most important staple food crop in India providing nutrition to millions of population. India harvested a record wheat production of 109.5 million tonnes with productivity of 34.24 q/ha in 2020-21. Even though hundreds of pests were reported on wheat crop worldwide, it was considered pest free crop in India till late sixties. But due to changes in climatic conditions, production conditions, cropping patterns and use of new agro techniques resulted in several outbreaks of sporadic pests in wheat in India. Impact assessment of different pests on wheat crop performance is significant in making proper management decision. Termites, aphids, shootfly, armyworm, American pod borer, Gujhia weevil, brown mite, pink stem borer, thrips and rodents are now considered as the major pests of wheat in India. Besides this stored grain pests like khapra beetle, lesser grain borer, rice weevil etc also cause significant losses in wheat. 1. Termites About 16 species of termite have been found to damage wheat crop in India, of these two species viz., Odontotermes obesus and Microtermes obesi were major species which caused significant yield losses ranging from 43 to 80 per cent. Termites are widely distributed in the northern India, central India and some pockets of peninsular India. They...