Abstract

The jassid, Empoasca devastans Dist., came into prominence during the beginnig of this century, along with the introduction of American varieties of cotton in this country. The failure of 3F cotton in the Punjab in 1913-14 was attributed mainly to the attack of this species of jassids (Husain 1940). In addition to cotton, this pest survives on a variety of host plants. However, the incidence and intensity of attack of this pest on cotton is found to vary from year to year and this is attributed to seasonal conditions. The influence of weather factors on the incidence of pests on cotton was studied by the Agricultural Meteorology wing of the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore from 1954 in collaboration with the Entomologist. The results of the analysis of the incidence of jassids on cotton in relation to rainfall, temperature and other environmental factors are presented in this paper.

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