0 Views
Department of Entomology, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502.
A roving survey was carried out in sunflower cultivating areas of Y.S.R Kadapa and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh during rabi, 2024 to know the incidence of sucking pests complex and incidence of viral diseases in sunflower. From the selected districts, different mandals, viz., Thondur, Jammalamadugu, Peddamudiyam, Pattikonda, Yemmiganur and Nandavaram were surveyed randomly for the incidence of sucking pests and viral diseases at crop growth period. Results revealed that whitefly and leafhopper population were more when compared to thrips. The highest mean number of whitefly population per six leaves was recorded in mandal of Thondur (8.69) during the month of January in Y.S.R Kadapa district and followed by Jammalamadugu (8.36). The highest mean number of leafhopper population was recorded in mandal of Jammalamadugu (9.20) during the month of January in Y.S.R Kadapa district and followed by Peddamudiyam (8.78). The highest mean number of thrips population was recorded in mandal of Peddamudiyam (6.79) during the month of January in Y.S.R Kadapa district and followed by Jammalamadugu (6.01). The incidence of viral disease was recorded highest in Thondur mandal with 15.16 % and 12.59 % of leaf curl and necrosis diseases in Y.S.R Kadapa district respectively and among two districts surveyed the highest mean number of whiteflies, thrips and leafhopper population were noticed in Y.S.R Kadapa district. Highest incidence of leaf curl and necrosis i.e, 16.67 % and 12.57 % were observed in Nandavaram mandal of Kurnool district.
KEYWORDS: Sunflower, Sucking pest, whitefly, thrips, leafhopper, viral disease, leafcurl, necrosis.