Influence of Seed Characters on the Incidence of Pod Borers in Pigeonpea
Influence of seed characters on the incidence of pod borers in pigeonpea was studied in the field and laboratory of Department of Entomology, O.U.A.T., Bhubaneswar during two cropping seasons of Kharif 1994–96. The study revealed that there was a positive correlation between seed width and incidence of pod borers (0.01 to 0.492) except for Maruca vitrata (−0.080). On the contrary, seed length had a negative effect on incidence of most borer species except Helicoverpa armigera (0.069) and Lampides boeticus. Both the seed volume and seed weight had the differences but not significant negative relationship with the incidence of M. testulalis, Grapholite critica, Exelastis atomosa, Tanaostigmodes cajaninae and borer complex. There was positive effect of these morphological features with the occurrence of H. armigera, L. boeticus, Etiella zinckenella and Callosobrchus maculatus. The incidence of Nanaguna breviuscula was positively influenced by seed volume (0.043) and negatively by seed weight (−0.0002).