Popular Article Popular Kheti Volume -4, Issue-2 (April -June), 2016 Available online at www.popularkhet i.com © 2016 popularkheti.com eISSN: 2321-0001 Major Insect Pests of Brinjal a nd Their Management Kanchan G. Padwal 1*, Sameer Kumar Singh 1, Sujeet Kumar Sharma 2 1Department of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology Institute of Agricultural Sciences , Banaras Hi ndu University, Varanasi (UP) 2Division of Plant Protection , Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi (UP) *Email of corresponding author :
[email protected] Brinjal is the most common and extensively grown all over the country and occupy an important place in the food basket of Indian consumers and attacked by many insect pests. Among them some have been problem for brinjal cultivation. The present article gives emphasis on the identification, life cycle, nature of damage and susta inable management of major insect pests of the brinjal. Introduction Brinjal ( Solanum melongena L.), also known as egg plant is referred as “King of vegetables”, originated from India and now grown as a vegetable throughout the tropical, sub -tropical and warm temperate areas of the world. Eggplant contains nutrients such as dietary fiber, folate, ascorbic acid, vitamin K, niacin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, potassium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus , and copper; the nutrients that it contributes to the diets of the poor are especially important during times when other vegetables are in short supply. The crop is attacked by number of insect pests including Leafhopper (Amrasca devastans ), aphid ( Aphis gossypii ), white fly ( Bemisia tabaci ) and shoot and fruit borer ( Leucinodes orbonalis ), Hadda beetle (Epilachna vigintioctopunctata ), Stem borer ( Euzophera perticella ), Lace wing bug ( Urentius hystricellus ), Brinjal brown leaf hopper ( Cestius phycitis ), Leaf roller ( Eublemma olivacea ).Besides these insect pests brinjal is also attacked by several other pests including mites, which result in significant losses in the yield.