Integrated Management Strategies for Thrips in Cotton

Abstract

India is the largest producer of cotton. Cotton plant is ravaged by many sucking pests and there is a constant change in pest scenario. Among the sucking pests, thrips (Order: Thysanoptera, Family: Thripidae), is the most vital early season sucking insect pest that retard the growth and development of cotton. The main symptoms of damage is scrapping and sucking sap from leaf epidermis leads to curling of leaf margins and shriveling of leaves. However, thrips is a tiny sucking insect pest that can greatly hamper crop production by direct feeding damage and also acting as vectors of plant viruses and causing huge economic loss in agriculture. It is a polyphagous pest. Thrips develops in six stages: egg, two nymphal instars, prepupa, pupa, and finally the adult insect.