PEST MANAGEMENT IN FOREST NURSERIES
MAJOR PESTS
WHITE GRUBS (Coleoptera and Meolonthidae)
The larvae of cockchafer beetles are white grubs. These grubs feed on the roots and root lets of seedlings in forest nurseries. The beetles emerge out from the soil on the onset of monsoon. After mating, they lay white, oval eggs in soil. After a few days of egg period, hatching takes place. The newly hatched grubs feed on roots and rootlets of the seedlings. After a pupal period, the beetles develop which come out from the soil just after the first monsoon showers. The important white grubs are Holotrichia consanguimea, H.serrata and Anomala varians.
CONTROL MEASURES
The beetles prefer sandy soil for egg laying and hence use of sandy soil should be avoided for raising nursery seedlings.
- Weeding and preparation of nursery beds should not be done during monsoon.
- Ploughing and digging of soil in winter facilitate in collection and destruction of white grubs.
- Mixing of carbaryl 5%, malathion 5% dusts each @ 30 to 40 kg kg/ha in nursery beds in July kill the freshly hatched grubs.
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