Thrips : Most Destructive Pest Of Cotton

The most steady insect related challenge for cotton cultivators is thrips. These small, scarcely noticeable, chip like creepy crawlies are important pests during the first couple of weeks after plants emerge. They can impede development yet in addition are once in a while rebuked for more harm than they cause.

Thrips are slender, straw-colored insects about 1.5 to 3 mm (0.06 to 0.12 inch) in length, with the smallest being about 0.6 mm (0.02 inch) and the largest about 15 mm (0.6 inch). Because of their minute size, they can enter the smallest flowers or tiniest cracks in cotton stems. Their wings, when present, are narrow and fringed. Despite their Lilliputian size, thrips are often elaborately ornamented with hexagonal designs, spines, or body flanges. The bristles (setae) of some are expanded at the tips or elongated, or the body wall may be expanded into prongs or forks. The larvae of thrips tend to be brightly coloured (red, orange, or yellow), whereas the adults range from whitish to brown or black. Adults have extensible bladders on the tarsi of the legs, as suggested by the common name bladder feet. The term thrips is both singular and plural. They have rasping-sucking mouthparts, so they rasp the plant tissue and suck the liquids. Most thrips problems in cotton seem to be related to thrips migrating from wheat as it matures in the spring. This may cause a burst of thrips activity that is particularly damaging if it occurs when the cotton plants emerge from the soil. . Rain, blowing sand, wind, residual herbicide damage, and seedling diseases can worsen thrips damage.

Thrips feeding on plants can damage fruit, leaves, and shoots and very noticeably affect plants’ cosmetic appearance. Thrips cause most damage to seedling cotton. They rasp tender leaves and terminal buds with their sharp mouthparts and feed on the juices. Leaves may turn brown on the edges, develop a silvery color, or become distorted and curl upward. Light thrips infestations tend to delay plant growth and retard maturity. Heavy infestations may kill terminal buds or even entire plants. Damaged terminal buds cause abno. rmal branching patterns. The duration and intensity of thrips infestations vary greatly according to season and geographic location. Once cotton plants are four to six weeks old, they outgrow thrips damage and recover.

Thrips are difficult to control. For best result use HPM’s Knock Down Super. It has both contact and stomach action. It is a highly active potent ingredient with a wide spectrum of control activity. Knock down Super leads to a greater photosynthetic activity, resulting in healthier plants and better yields. It has cost effective control: at 500ml/ha, It gives excellent control of target pests in the most cost-effectivemanner.

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