By HC Sharma, GV Ranga Rao, MK Dhillon, S Gopalakrishna, CLL Gowda, PM Gaur, RK Varshney, KK Sharma, P Bhatnagar-Mathur, HD Upadhyaya, N Mallikarjuna, KB Saxena, RK Srivastava, and S Tripathi

1. Strategies for Management of
Helicoverpa armigera
HC Sharma, GV Ranga Rao, MK Dhillon, S Gopalakrishna, CLL Gowda, PM Gaur, RK Varshney, KK Sharma, P Bhatnagar-Mathur,
HD Upadhyaya, N Mallikarjuna, KB Saxena, RK Srivastava, and S Tripathi
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India
Helicoverpa armigera is the most important pest of field crops in Asia, Africa, and Australia
(Plate 1). It causes annual losses of over US$2 billion, in addition to over US$500 million
worth of insecticides that are used to control this pest.
Plate 1. Helicoverpa damage in pigeonpea and chickpea.
Biology and nature of damage
Female moths lay eggs on flowers and pods (Plate 2). Young larvae feed on the flowers,
while the older larvae feed on the developing pods. A female lays 500 to 2000 eggs, and one
generation is completed in 30 - 40 days. The insect moves across crops, and also migrates
over long distances.
Pigeonpea
Plate 2. Adults (A) and eggs (B) of Helicoverpa.
Strategies for management
A
Light trap Pheromone trap
Plate 3. Light and pheromone traps to monitor H. armigera populations.
Host plant resistance (HPR)
Varieties such as ICPL 332 (Plate 5A), ICPL 84060, ICPL 187-1, and ICP 7203-1 in
pigeonpea, and ICC 506, ICCV 10, and ICCV 7 in chickpea are resistant to Helicoverpa
damage. The resistance genes from the wild relatives such as Cajanus scarabaeoides (Inset:
Plate 5A) and C. sericeus in pigeonpea; and Cicer reticulatum and C. judaicum (Plate 5B) in
chickpea can be transferred into the cultivated varieties to increase the levels of resistance
to this pest. Transgenic plants having Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and trypsin inhibitor genes
(Plate 5C) are being developed for controlling Helicoverpa. Efforts are also being made to use
molecular markers for developing plants with resistance to Helicoverpa (Plate 6).
Plate 4. Cultural and mechanical methods of Helicoverpa management.
Cultural and mechanical control
Helicoverpa populations can be
monitored through visual counts
or light and pheromone traps
(Plate 3). Two eggs per meter
row or 2 small larvae per plant in
cotton, one egg or a small larva
per plant in pigeonpea, and one
larva per meter row in chickpea
can be used as economic
thresholds.
Marigold as a trap crop
Shaking pigeonpea plants to
dislodge Helicoverpa larvae
Deep plowing and interculture reduce survival of Helicoverpa. Marigold (Plate 4A), sesame
and sunflower can be used as strip/trap crops. Sorghum, mungbean and soyabean can be
used as intercrops with
pigeonpea and cotton, and
coriander with chickpea.
Helicoverpa larvae can
also be dislodged from
pigeonpea by shaking the
plants (Plate 4B) at the
podding stage.
Plate 5. Exploitation of wild relatives [A = pigeonpea, Cajanus scarabaeoides, and
B = chickpea, C. judaicum] and transgenic plants (C) for resistance to Helicoverpa.
Plate 6. Inter-specific genetic linkage map of
chickpea.
For more information write to HC Sharma – Principal Scientist (Entomology) Email: h.sharma@cgiar.org
Nov 2009
A B C
Plate 7. Natural enemies for the biological control of Helicoverpa armigera.
CampoletisYellow wasp Chrysopa
Plate 8. Control of Helicoverpa armigera using biopesticides and synthetic insecticides.
Insecticide spraying in
pigeonpea using protective
clothing (Inset: neem fruits)
B
Biological control
Apanteles, Carcelia, Sturmiopsis, Campoletis and Enicospilus are important parasitoids of
Helicoverpa; while Chrysoperla, yellow wasps, drongos and egrets are important predators of
Helicoverpa larvae (Plate 7).
Biopesticides, natural plant
products and synthetic
insecticides
Bacillus thuringiensis (1 kg ha-1
), NPV
(250-500 LE ha-1
) (Plate 8A), and neem
(1% oil or 5% kernel extract) can be
used to control Helicoverpa. Synthetic
insecticides such as endosulfan
(500-750 g), methomyl (250-350
g), thiodicarb (500 g), spinosad
(150 ml), indoxacarb (500 ml), or
cypermethrin/fenvalerate (75-100 g)
ha-1
are quite effective for controlling
this pest. Insecticides with ovicidal
action are more effective during the
flowering stage. Use proper application
equipment and target the spray to
flowers/pods/bolls (Plate 8B).
B
Chickpea
Helicoverpa larva infected
by NPV (Inset: Metarrhizium
infected larva
A