Evaluation of Integrated Pest Management Strategies for Major Insect Pests of Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.)

An integrated pest management (IPM) module was developed and tested on mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) at Regional Agricultural Research, Lam, Guntur from 2018 to 2022 to reduce dependency on calendar-based insecticide sprays while maintaining acceptable pest control and profitability. The IPM package combined seed treatment (imidacloprid 600 FS @ 5.0 ml/kg), cultural measures (maize guard rows), monitoring (yellow and blue sticky traps), botanical sprays (neem oil 10,000 ppm @ 1.5 ml/l at 20 DAS), Bacillus thuringiensis formulations at flowering and need-based application of selective insecticides (flonicamid 50 WG and chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC at recommended stages). IPM plots recorded mean populations of whitefly (2.6/3 leaves), thrips (3.4/3 leaves) and Maruca larvae (1.1/plant) with pod damage of 8.8%, yield 1,293 kg/ha and cost: benefit ratio 1:2.23 compared with farmers' practice which indicated lower natural enemy counts, higher input cost and yield 1,423 kg/ha with B:C 1:1.89. The results confirm that adoption of IPM provides comparable pest control with reduced number of insecticide sprays and improved natural enemy abundance while maintaining better returns making it a sustainable option for mungbean cultivation.