Vol. 11, Special Issue 11 (2022)

Author(s):
Roopam Kunwar, Chenesh Patel, RM Srivastava, Khanika Pal and Anil Rana

Abstract:
Potato losses from the leaf hopper, Empoasca devastans Distant, a significant sucking pest, can be extremely high. The population dynamics of E. devastans on potato were examined in the present investigation, carried out at the Vegetable Research Centre of GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, during the Rabi season of 2020-21. With a population density of 1.98 leafhoppers/3 compound leaves, leafhopper populations were first seen in the 46^th standard week (SW) and peaked in the 49^th SW (5.35 leafhoppers/3 compound leaves). The outcomes of the correlation analysis concluded that the leafhopper population was correlated negatively with relative humidity both morning and evening but significantly positively with maximum temperature, evaporation, and sun-shine hours. Our research also revealed a statistically non-significant relation between minimum temperature and rainfall and the leafhopper population. Together, the major weather factors analysed by means of developing a regression equation created 75.4% variation in the leafhopper population. Therefore, the dynamics of populations are a key consideration in the integrated pest management module when developing preventative measures to employ against leafhoppers.