PLANT PROTECTION For Second Year Agriculture Plant Protection Course
AJI C. S.
PLANT PROTECTION For Second Year Agriculture Plant Protection Course
AJI C. S.
PLANT PROTECTION - II For Second Year Agriculture Plant Protection
Prepared by,
AJI C. S. Vocational Teacher in Agriculture Govt. VHSS, Pallarimangalam, Ernakulam
[email protected], (9446805972)
“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the Father, the Mother and the Teacher” - Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Who said can’t ?............ “Someone is always doing something someone else said, was impossible”
Try trying………..
CONTENTS Unit No.
Name of the unit
Page No
1
Importance of Plant Protection
1-3
2
Introduction to pests
4-5
3
General characters of insect pests
6 - 11
4
Insect pest control
12 - 21
5
Biological control of insect pests
22 - 25
6
Environmental aspects of pesticides
26 - 32
7
Insect pests of major crops of Kerala
33 - 56
8
Non-insect pests of major crops
57 - 65
9
Pests of stored products
66 - 70
10
Introduction to plant diseases
71 - 76
11
Plant disease control
77 - 81
12
Diseases of major crops of Kerala
82 - 98
13
Weeds
99 - 107
14
Plant protection equipments
108 - 116
15
Compatibility of plant protection chemicals and fertilizers
117 - 118
Model question papers
119 - 124
1
Unit - 1 INTRODUCTION TO PLANT PROTECTION Cultivation of plants for food began in the Neolithic period (latest period of Stone Age) sometimes between 12,000 and 10,000 BC. Until then, man finds their subsistence from hunting and food gathering. The genesis of agriculture lay better germination and greater yields. Dependence of man on plants increased with complexity of civilization. Plants are economically important in other ways such as checking soil erosion, improvement of soil fertility, provision of food and shelter to many animals. Plants are also grown for beautification and aesthetic purposes. Whenever plants are grown whether for subsistence or for meeting other necessities, the growers are keenly interested in having an assured yield or return. Accordingly, constant attention is paid to ensure proper growth and production. Successful Cultivation of plants necessitates cultivation of suitable varieties, supply of inputs and efficient management of the same and constant care and protection from pest and disease, which may cause yield reduction. Here in comes the importance of plant protection. Pests have been known to cause damage to plants from ancient times; though the exact causes might not then be known. They are considered to appear due to the wrath of gods. Late blight to potato caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans in Ireland in the 1840’s resulted in a potato – famine and the consequent migration of ½ a million people from Ireland to U.S.A. Bengal famine of 1943 caused death of a very large number of people which was due to the failure of rice crop due to brown spot disease. In SriLanka Coffee Cultivation is abandoned and they adopted tea cultivation towards the end of 19th century, due to the disease Coffee rust. Diseases like Bunchy top and Panama wilt disease are serious threats to Banana crop. From studying all these instances, it is shown that pests are potential threats to the successful cultivation of crops and they can pose serious problems if adequate steps are not taken to protect the crops. To feed the increasing population man started intensive farming, which lead to an increase in pest and disease incidence. Approximately the loss due to pest is 30- 50% of the total production. To stabilize production and to avoid famine, various plant protection measures are to be adopted. Plant protection may be defined as safeguarding of crops against attack of pest, disease and other harmful physiological conditions Assessment of Losses Caused by Pests and Diseases Assessment of pests and the effect they produce on host plants is important as it constitutes a base for decision on pest control measures. In pest management the major consideration is economic threshold, which is based on the relation between yield and infestation of pests. Assessment methods can be divided into two 1. Direct Counts - On plants or in the environment 2. Indirect Counts - Of some effects caused by the pests such as injury or damage. Both can be assessed as an index, score or on a rating scale. “Pest has been defined as any organism detrimental to man and his property in causing damages significant of economic importance”.
2
Classification of pest based on the extent of damage 1. Major Pest - cause a yield loss of more than 10% (>10%) 2. Minor Pest - 5 - 10% yield loss 3. Negligible Pest - a loss of less than 5% of yield (
