Compendium of Cotton Mealybugs

Abstract

A new pest, mealybug which was hitherto not familiar earlier started destroying cotton crops caused economic damage, reducing yields up to 40-50% in affected fields since 2006. Several parts of Gujarat which are located on the border of Pakistan which had recent history of mealybugs infestation was severely affected. Mealybug infestation were recorded (Dhara Jothi et al., 2008) in 2006 on G. hirsutum in all the nine cotton-growing states of India, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Severe economic damage to G. hirsutum was reported in 2007 (Dhara Jothi et al., 2008) in four major cotton-growing districts (Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozepur) of Punjab, two districts (Hisar and Sirsa) of Haryana, and low to moderate damage in parts of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. According to Goswami (2007), nearly 2000 acres of cotton crops were destroyed by the mealybug by mid-July and over 100 acres of mealybug-infested Bt cotton was uprooted in Raike-Kalan village in Bathinda. By the end of the Kharif season (June–October), the total damage in 2007 was estimated to range from US$400,000 to 500,000 in north India alone.