Groundnut in India has emerged more as food crop than oil crop, traditionally. With increasing direct consumption, nuts should be safe to eat in terms of pesticides residues. So, good agronomic practices with integrated pest management hold the key. The topic provides information on identification of key pests and IPM package to manage key pests of economic importance in eco-friendly manner.

1. Integrated Pest Management in Groundnut
RARS Tirupati & AICRP Groundnut

2. Root Grub
• More severe in lighter soils.
• Adults emerge from soil immediately after
monsoon rains.
• Adults feed on Neem, Acacia, Ber trees.
• Grubs are ‘C’ shaped live in soil and feed on
groundnut roots.
• Affect plant density, there by yields.

3. Root Grub Management
• Deep summer ploughing to expose the pupae
to heat and bird predation.
• Use light traps to destroy adults, there by
minimize the damage intensity.
• Seed treatment with Chlorpyriphos or Phorate
10G

4. Termites

5. Earwig (Euborellia stali)

6. Sucking Pests

7. Aphids
• Suck sap from tender leaves, flowers and pegs.
• Sap sucking leads to stunting and weakening of
seedlings.
• Vectors of economically important viral diseases.

8. Management
• Spray systemic insecticides such as
Dimethioate; Phosphamidon.
• Aphids incidence usually severe during dry
spells.

9. Jassid
• Both adults and nymphs suck sap
• Leaves turn yellow incase of jassid injury
• Incase of severe incidence, the leaf tips
show ‘V’ shaped yellow symptom
• This is Called “Hopper burn”

10. Jassids
(Empoasca kerri)

11. Jassid Management
• Jassids cause severe crop damage at early stage.
Install light traps or sticky traps for monitoring the
populations.
• Spray systemic insecticides such as Dimethioate,
Phosphamidon.

12. 3. THRIPS
(Caliothrips palmi)
• Thrips live in tender buds (folded leaves).
• Due to their sap sucking leaves get crinkled.
• Thrips feeding will result in white scars on the
leaves.
• These are vectors of BND and StNV diseases.

13. Thrips Damage

14. Management of Thrips
• Seed treatment with Imidacloprid.
• Removal of weeds such as Parthenium.
• Introduction of border crop such as
Sorghum, Pearl millet or maize 5-6 lines or
intercrop 5:1 ratio.

15. Red Hairy Caterpillar (RHC)
• Adults emerge from soil after the monsoon rain
and attracted to light.
• It is a main pest of rainy season crop.
• Adults two days after emergence lay eggs in
masses, 300-700.
• Eggs hatch in 4 days and the young larvae
start feeding on the crops.

16. RHC MANAGEMENT
• Deep ploughing in summer.
• Day after monsoon rain arrange bonfires in the fields
around 7-10 PM to attract and destroy the adults.
• Grow Cowpea as trap crop.
• Make trenches around the field to arrest larva
migration and dust with Methyl Parathion.
• To manage small larvae spray with NS Extract.
• If the damage is 25% or more spray with Quinalphos /

17. Spodoptera
• It is a major pest of Post Rainy crop.
• Adults lay eggs in cluster of 300-500 and covered
with scales.
• Eggs hatch in 3-4 days and larvae feed on leaves
by scrapping.
• Well grown larvae completely defoliates the leaves.

18. Management of
Spodoptera
• Deep ploughing.
• Placing Pheromone traps
• (10/ ha).
• Collection of egg mass.
• Fix bird perches (50/ha).
• For management of young
larvae spray with NSKE
• If the defoliation is >25%
spray with Chlorpyriphos or
Quinalphos.
• For bigger larvae arrange
poison baits.

19. Gram Pod Borer
(Helicoverpa armigera)

20. Leaf miner
• It attains severity during drought stress
in rainy and late sown crop in post
rainy season.
• Young larvae mine the leaves.
• Grown up larvae feed on leaves by
staying in leaf folds
Management/Control
• Timely sowing.
• Use of Soybean as trap crop.
• Use of millet as intercrop.
• Based on the population spray with
Quinalphos or Monocrotophos.

21. Bruchid damaged pods (Carydon serratus L)

24. Management of Bruchid beetle
• Cleaning and fumigation of
godowns.
• Cleaning and fumigation of
gunny bags.
• Proper drying of pods.
• Keep Aluminum Phosphide
tablets in airtight godowns.
• Spray Malathion or
Deltamethrin.

25. Source: Plant Protection Scientists
RARS-Tirupati (AICRP Groundnut)