Insect pests of Potato ecosystem in mid-hills of Meghalaya

Abstract

Potato was one of the main crop in the NE Region of India. The crop is affected by various insect pests in the field as well as in storage. Major limitations for the production of potato crop include both biotic and abiotic factors. Among biotic factors, Insect pests majorly attack the crop from germination to till harvest. The studies were carried out in College of post graduate studies in agricultural sciences (CPGSAS), Umiam and Central Potato Research Station (CPRS), Upper Shillong, Meghalaya during 2019-2020.Insect specimens (Maximum 10 each) were collected from two experimental fields of potato crop CPGSAS, Umiam and CPRS, Upper Shillong. The collected insect pests were categorized into major and minor pests, based on their damage and Economic Threshold Level (ETL). A total of 31 insect pests were recorded, out of these six was regarded as major insect pests viz., Pthorimaea operculella, Thysanoplusia orichalcea, Tuta absoluta, Macrosiphum euphorbiae, Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata, Anomala sp. The remaining 25 insect species were categorized as minor pests which belonged to 3 orders and 11 families. Among 25 minor insect pests, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hemiptera comprised of 6%, 33% and 42% of the pest diversity with 2, 10 and 13 numbers of insect species respectively Furthermore, the comprehensive information on the insect pests in this region would be helpful for developing pest management strategies.