Termites in Important Crops and Their Management Rana Abhishek*, Chandel R S, Verma K S, Joshi Manishkumar J Department of Entomology, CSKHPKV, Palampur176062, Himachal Pradesh, India *Email: abhir1392@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Abstract Termites are polyphagous pests causing economic losses to a large number of crops worldwide. Among 3105 species of termites, about 185 species are considered as pests globally. The termites that belong to family Termitidae are known to cause great losses to agricultural and horticultural crops. In India, Odontotermes obesus (Rambur) and Microtermes obesi Holmgren damage crops in both vegetative and reproductive stages, especially wheat, maize, barley, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, plantations, sugarcane, cotton etc. The damage can lead to almost 100% yield losses, especially if it occurs in early stages of crop growth. Over the past 60 years, many insecticides from several chemical groups have been used for the management of termites globally. But no single method of control provides a permanent solution. Therefore, IPM approaches viz., cultural, mechanical, biological (Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Steinernema carpocapsae, Heterorhabditis indica, Bacillus theuringiensis, Pseudomonas fluorescens etc.) methods, and botanical extracts must be integrated with insecticides in farmer’s field to reduce termite problems. Top Keywords Microtermes, Odontotermes, Termitidae, Insecticides, Botaniclas, Biological control, IPM, Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds, Horticultural, Plantation crops, Losses. Top |