Evaluate your knowledge of effective brinjal pest management strategies, identification, and control methods relevant to horticultural practices. Ideal for those seeking insight into controlling common threats to brinjal crops and ensuring healthy yields.
Which pest is known for boring into both shoots and developing fruits of brinjal, causing characteristic wilting and damage, often signaled by holes and frass?
Explanation: Leucinodes orbonalis, also called the brinjal shoot and fruit borer, bores into shoots and fruits, leading to distinctive entry holes and frass. Aphids suck sap but don't bore. Meloidogyne incognita is a root-knot nematode affecting roots, not shoots or fruits. Spodoptera litura is a leaf-eating caterpillar unrelated to boring damage described.
What is an important cultural practice to reduce the population of brinjal shoot and fruit borer on a farm?
Explanation: Removing and destroying infested shoots and fruits removes larvae from the field, effectively reducing pest populations. Increasing fertilizer may improve plant growth but doesn't target the pest. Flooding is not practical or effective in brinjal fields. Growing during the rainy season may increase pest risk rather than managing it.
Which biological control agent is commonly used to manage brinjal shoot and fruit borer larvae by parasitizing them?
Explanation: Trichogramma chilonis is an egg parasitoid wasp used against brinjal shoot and fruit borer. Coccinella septempunctata, the ladybird beetle, preys mainly on aphids. Beauveria bassiana is a fungus for various insect pests but not specific as parasitoid. Rhizobium leguminosarum is a nitrogen-fixing bacterium, not a pest controller.
Which is a recommended pesticide application practice to reduce resistance development in brinjal pests while ensuring food safety?
Explanation: Rotating insecticides with different modes of action helps delay resistance and maintains efficacy. Repeating the same insecticide encourages resistance. Overdosing is unsafe and illegal. Harvesting immediately after spraying disregards safe waiting intervals and can lead to harmful residues.
What is a commonly recommended method for early detection of brinjal fruit and shoot borer in the field?
Explanation: Pheromone traps attract male moths, enabling early monitoring of pest presence. Watering heavily is unrelated to pest detection. Shaking plants may disturb pests but is not a standardized detection technique. Plastic mulch helps with weeds, not borer monitoring.