PREVALENCE ON THE INFESTATION OF FLEA BEETLE (Phyllotreta nigripes) AGAINST DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MUNGBEAN

Abstract

Mungbean is one of the important pulse crops in Bangladesh. More than 12 species of insect pests infest mungbean, among them flea beetle cause significant yield loss due to attack from seedling to vegetative stages. The experiment was conducted to find out tolerant and susceptible varieties of mungbean against flea beetle at the farmer’s field of Patuakhali, Bangladesh from January to April 2016. Results revealed that BARI Mung-4 had the lowest abundance of flea beetle while BINA Moog-7 and BARI Mung-6 had the highest flea beetle abundance. Among the tested all varieties, significantly the lowest number (1.33) of infested plant by flea beetle was recorded in BARI Mung-4 followed by BINA Moog-4 (1.51) and the highest number (2.54) of infested plant by flea beetle was in BARI Mung-6 followed by (2.42) BINA Moog-7. The lowest percentage of leaf area damaged was on BARI Mung-4 (5.37%) while the highest on BARI Mung-6 (11.33%). Population of flea beetle showed a positive correlation (R2= 0.019) with temperature and a negative correlation (R2= -0.01) with relative humidity. BARI Mung-6 produced highest yield while Patuakhali local Mung produced the lowest followed by BARI Mung-4. Among tested varieties BARI Mung-4 showed comparatively more tolerant against flea beetle and BARI Mung-6 produced maximum yield in spite of being susceptile to flea beetle.