After a year’s gap, the dreaded black thrips infestation has surfaced in the chilli crop once again around Ballari in Karnataka.
About Black thrips:
It is an invasive pest species.
It was first reported in India in 2015 on Papaya.
These insects lacerate the tender leaves and flowers before consuming the tissues. Lacerations, especially of the flower, impair fruit formation.
It is polyphagous, i.e., it can feed on different plant species.
It feeds on tender flowers, causes large scale shedding of flowers, stunting and malformation of fruits and fruit drop in chilli, leading to severe yield loss.
In addition to chilli, it damages crops such as cotton, bell pepper, red and black grams, mango, watermelon and others.
From 2015, the pest has been found feeding on both agriculture, horticulture and ornamental crops and widely distributed across Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
Reasons for its upsurge in India:
Absence of natural enemies of this particular invasive pest in the area of invasion for natural control of the pest species and excessive use of chemical pesticides and staggered plantings are the possible reasons for their outbreak.
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