Cultural management

  • Taking up timely sowings.
  • Avoid staggered sowings.
  • Use acid delinted seeds: soak seed in concentrated sulphuric acid (80 – 100 ml / kg seed) for 2 – 3 minutes, wash with water 2 – 3 times followed by washing with lime supernatant, shade dry.
  • Use of organic manures, recommended doses of N
  • Keeping the crop free of weeds
  • Monitoring through field scouting and pheromone traps (Gossyplure)
  • Destroying PBW in rosette flowers and periodically remove and destroy dropped squares dried flowers and premature bolls.
  • Avoiding ratooning and summer cotton.
  • After final picking, allowing cattle, sheep and goats to graze upon immature green bolls to prevent carryover of pest to next season.
  • Destroying cotton stubbles to prevent carryover.
  • Restrict the movement of cotton seed from other areas / states.
  • ETL: 10% infested fruiting parts
  • Three weekly releases of egg parasitoid Trichogrammatoidea  bactrae @1,00,000/ha per release synchronised with the incidence of the pest.