Bioefficacy of chemical insecticides against major sucking insectpests on grain legumes in India- A review

Grain legumes are the important source of dietary protein in tropical regions and insect pests are the major biotic constraints in the production of the grain legumes throughout the country. About 150 species of insects are known to attack pulse crops in India. Among the insect pests, the sucking pests like aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch; jassid, Empoasca kerri Pruthi; whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius, thrips,Thrips palmi Karny and flower thrips, Megalurothrips usitatus Bagnall are known to cause significant damage to the pulse crops and also indirectly acting as a vectors in transmitting the deadly diseases resulting in severe loss in grain yields of the legume crops. The present review highlights the losses caused by the sucking pests and critically review the literature generated on the bio efficacy of conventional and novel groups of chemical insecticides for the management of sucking pests infesting grain legumes at different locations in India.