Impact of weather on incidence of sucking pests in groundnut

Population dynamics of sucking pests of groundnut viz. aphids, leaf hoppers and thrips were studied. Correlation between the pest population and weather parameters was analyzed and regression equations were developed. Incidence of aphids, leaf hoppers and thrips on groundnut crop during kharif season has started on 27th SMW. Aphid population (12.1 aphids/plant) reached the peak in the 31 SMW; whereas, leaf hopper (3.5 /plant) and thrips (3.5 thrips/ plant) attained peak in the 31st SMW. The population of aphids, leafhopper and thrips then decreased till the 38th SMW. Aphid population showed significant positive correlation with mean atmosphere temperature(r = 0.673) and non-significant negative correlative with mean relative humidity(r = -0.211) and rainfall (r = -0.0268). Leaf hopper exhibited significant positive correlation with mean temperature (r = 0.573) while, non-significant negative correlation with mean relative humidity(r = -0.297) and rainfall(r = -0.274). Thrips population exhibited significant positive correlation with relative humidity (r=0.503) while, non-significant correlation with mean relative humidity(r=0.105) and rainfall (r=-0.471). Incidence of aphids, leaf hoppers and thrips on groundnut crop during rabi season has started on 51th SMW. Aphid population (16.5 aphids/plant) reached the peak in the 9 SMW; whereas, leaf hopper (3.64 /plant) and thrips (7.14 thrips/ plant) attained peak in the 7th and 5th SMW respectively. Later, the population of aphids, leafhopper and thrips then decreased till the 12th SMW. The correlation between weather parameters and sucking pest population followed the pattern similar to kharif season. Regression analysis data of revealed that the multiple non-linear regression equations are sufficient enough to predict the pest population with prevailing weather parameters.