Noble Seeds’ NBH Apsara is an erect-growing chilly variety ready for harvest within seventy to seventy-five days of transplanting. NBH Apsara is a dual-purpose variety that has high pungency. NBHC Apsara is an important chilli seed variety to respond to the devastation of the chilly crop in India in 2021 due to black thrips.
We want chilly farmers across India to grow the NBH Apsara chilly variety as one of their strategies in response to the upsurge in the black thrips infestation in the chilly crop.
We present below details of thrips species in India, the history of black thrips in the country, the damage to chilly crops by thrips, monitoring thrips population, prevention of thrips in chilly, growers success in thrips management through NBHC Apsara and Noble Seeds’ plans for helping chilly farmers by introducing thrips resistant chilly hybrids.
Thrips species in India: As per the report of the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore they prepared for the government of India in 2022, titled, South East Asian thrips (Thrips parvispinus) monitoring and management, scientists have reported the following six thrips species in India.
- Frankliniella schultzei (Trybom)
- Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood
- Thrips florum Schmutz
- Thrips hawaiiensis (Morgan)
- Thrips palmi Karny
- Thrips parvispinus (Karny)
Of the above six thrips species, Scirtothrips dorsalis is the common chilli thrips. However, after the introduction of the alien pest, Thrips parvispinus or black thrips, during 2021-22, the predominant thrips species in India has been T. parvispinus over S. dorsalis in chilli growing regions.
History of black thrips in India: T. parvispinus, or black thrips, is an invasive Southeast Asian pest that has spread to Australia, Thailand, and Greece, per an article in the Down To Earth magazine of 16 May 2022.
T. parvispinus gained prominence in 2017 when it devastated the papaya crop after being first found in the south-Indian state of Karnataka. However, it spread to ornamental crops in Karnataka in the next two years. Unlike chilli thrips which attack mostly the leaves, black thrips attack flowers and leaves causing more severe crop loss.
In 2021-22, black thrips spread to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Chhattisgarh. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were the worst states hit by black thrips during 2021-22.
Scientists studying black thrips found it had spread to bell pepper, brinjal, black gram, pigeon pea, watermelon, cucumber, bottle gourd, mango, and cotton.
The extent of thrips damages to chilly:
In 2021, a heavy black thrips outbreak in chilly Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana caused losses from 50-80% of the crop. With such an extent of crop damage, black thrips devastate farmers’ fields, resulting in huge losses to farmers cultivating chilly.
How do thrips damage the chilly crop?
Thrips nymphs and adults feed on the leaves’ undersides, whereas the adult thrips also feed on flowers.
Thrips use their piercing mouthparts to damage leaf tissue, after which the thrips suck the oozing liquids. Leaves that thrips damage show brown or greyish spots on the upper side and yellowish spots on the underside and may also curl upwards.
Thrips damage is visible as puncturing or scratching on the lower sides of leaves.
When there is severe thrips infestation, leaves may deform, and the thrips may defoliate a plant.
Thrips also feed on flowers leading to damage and flower shedding. As floral damage leads to chillies with scabs, spots of damage, and discolouration, thrips cause crop value loss in chillies.
Thrips also reduce crop yield, leading to reduced crop growth, defoliation, and flower drop, and reduced fruit set and development.
Monitoring thrips’ population: Yellow and blue sticky traps are very effective in monitoring thrips’ populations. These traps help to monitor the presence, abundance, seasonal changes, and behaviour of the thrips pest in chilly crops.
Yellow and blue sticky traps are simple, economical, and effective thrips monitoring tools. Sticky traps help monitor and mass-trapping of thrips, and farmers need to use sticky traps at a higher density of 65 to 75 per hectare for mass-trapping thrips, whereas just 20 to 25 traps per hectare are sufficient for monitoring thrips.
Some studies indicate blue sticky traps attract black thrips better than yellow sticky traps. Thrips population monitoring is also possible by collecting plant samples and counting thrips on leaves, flowers, and fruits after extraction in alcohol. Physically dislodging thrips on leaves, flowers, and fruits and counting them is another method of establishing the thrips population.
Thrips’ prevention measures: Noble Seeds suggests the following thrips prevention measures to growers of its chilly varieties. We suggest a combination of cultural and mechanical control measures that chilly farmers can easily adopt.
- Avoid planting chilly in the drier months helps prevent thrips species that prefer dry conditions.
- Avoid close planting of the plants as high density predisposes the chilly crop to thrips infestation.
- Avoid staggered planting, which leads to a prolonged crop cycle and the presence of the chilly crop host for thrips to infest.
- Use sprinklers to irrigate the chilly crop to dislodge thrips from the plants and prevent the development of their infestation.
- Select thrips-resistant chilly varieties like NBH Apsara helps prevent thrips infestation.
- Remove weeds and alternate hosts from the crop vicinity to prevent thrips population harborage outside the crop.
- Irrigate the soil and avoid the excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizer.
- Using sticky traps helps establish the population level through the trap catch.
- Remove and destroy thrips-infested leaves and plants to reduce the thrips population.
- Ploughing the soil helps to expose thrips pupae in the soil.
- Grow border crops of maize, sorghum, and cowpea as a barrier and reservoir of natural thrips enemies.
- Inter-cultivate among plant rows to destroy the soil-dwelling thrips pupae.
- Rotate crops to alternate chilly crops with grain crops to break the thrips’ life cycle.
NBH Apsara for tackling thrips infestation: NBH-Apsara is a high-yielding chilli hybrid with good pungency, moderate colour, and good dry weight, generating good farmer profits.
Noble has extensively evaluated its NBH-Apsara chilli hybrid for two consecutive years in farmer fields and competitor checks at major chilli-growing areas of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
Farmers have responded positively to NBH Apsara’s thrips tolerance performance, resulting in fewer insecticidal sprays, higher marketable yields, and better prices and profits for farmers.
Noble’s development of thrips-tolerant chilli hybrids is a boon for growers, helping them mitigate the losses from thrips infestations and maintain their livelihoods through returns from their chilli crops.
Noble has numerous new pipeline hybrids in the trial stage at different locations, with lesser thrips infestation and higher yields than leading commercial checks facing severe thrips infestation.
