Integrated pest management strategy for striped flea beetle, Phyllotreta striolata infesting radish (Raphanus sativus)

In recent past, striped flea beetle, Phyllotreta striolata (Fabricius) was found to be very serious on radish (Raphanus sativus L.) across Haryana state and Delhi NCR in India and farmers suffered a huge economic loss. In the present study, an experiment was conducted during winter (rabi) seasons of 2020 and 2021 in predominant radish producing village of Haryana to investigate the influence of weather parameters on pest damage and validation of IPM strategy against P. striolata in radish. Results revealed that, among the different weather parameters, both maximum and minimum temperature had a significant negative relationship with leaf damage by adults (r = -0.35*; P = 0.02 and r = -0.62**; P = 0.00, respectively) and root damage by grubs of P. striolata (r = -0.91**; P = 0.00 and r = -0.86**, P = 0.00, respectively) in radish. The IPM strategy evaluated against P. striolata was effective with less leaf (10.99%) and root (12.93%) damage due to P. striolata compared to Farmers practice with 20.47% leaf and 39.43% root damage and also recorded 5.98 t/acre yield with cost: benefit ratio of 1:3.83 compared to Farmers practice (4.00 t/ acre yield and 1:1.60 C: B ratio). IPM strategy also reduced average number of insecticide sprays from 6.11 to 3.57 sprays (41.51% reduction), which clearly evince that the IPM strategy so validated can be adopted by the farmers as an economically viable option for management of P. striolata in radish.