An Open Access Journal published by ICRISAT

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is one of the most widely cultivated pulse crops in India. It suffers from damage by the pod borer Helicoverpa armigera – a major yield reducing factor. Pod borer damage varies considerably in different agroclimatic regions in India. Helicoverpa armigera is a cosmopolitan, multivoltine and highly polyphagous pest which attacks a number of crops of agricultural importance all over the world. It is the endemic pest which damages chickpea from 20 to 100% (Vaishampayan 1980). This study is useful in determining suitability of host stage in life cycle of the pest, which contributes to the trend of population. It also determines the finite rate of increase which signifies the number of individuals added to the population per head per unit of time. The statistics was developed by Birch (1948) an