Insect Problems in Pulse Crops and their Management

66-69Pulses are cultivated on 2.45 million hectare in India. Their production is 500 kg/ha, which is much lower than the world average. Insect and diseases are the main cause for lower production. These biotic stresses inflict about 25-30% yield loss in these crops. Under present circumstances it is not feasible to bring more agricultural land under pulse crops for increasing their production. Therefore, cultivating improved genotypes with better management is the only option to ensure higher production. Effective pest management can help in boosting pulse productivity considerably. In previous decades, mainly chemical pesticides have been used for combating pest problems. These have of course enhanced food production, but at the same time their indiscriminate use has created several environmental problems. Therefore, integrated pest management (IPM) is the need of the hour. In IPM, various pest control methods viz. cultural, physical, mechanical, biological and resistant cultivars are utilized for pest suppression. Pesticides are used only when above methods fail to suppress the pests. IPM also helps to avert environmental pollution due to pesticides