Identification of the pest:

• Eggs: Spherical in shape and creamy white in colour, laid singly
• Larva: Shows colour variation from greenish to brown. It has dark brown grey lines on the body with lateral white lines
• Pupa: Brown in colour, occurs in soil, leaf, pod and crop debri
• Adult: Light pale brownish yellow stout moth. Forewings are olive green to pale brown with a dark brown circular spot in the centre. Hind wings are pale smoky white with a broad blackish outer margin

• Set up of light traps till mid night to monitor, attract and kill adults of stem borer, grain midge and earhead caterpillars
• Set up sex pheromone traps at 12/ha to attract male moths of Helicoverpa armigera from flowering to grain hardening.
• Two applications of NPV at 10 days interval at 1.5 X10¹² POB along with crude sugar 2.5 kg + cotton seed kernel powder 250 g on the earheads is effective in reducing the larval population of Helicoverpa