Impact of Closer Spacing on Sucking Pests and Pink Bollworm Infestation in Cotton Crop

The present study was carried out at Dr. K.L. Rao Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Garikapadu, NTR District to find out the impact of plant spacing on population dynamics of sucking pest in two consecutive years of kharif 2023-24 and 2024-25 under special project on “cotton targeting technologies to agro ecological zones large scale demonstrations of best practices to enhance the cotton productivity” CICR, Nagpur. Two consecutive years major sucking pest population viz, leafhopper, thrips, aphids and whitefly incidence was recorded higher in closer spacing (90x30cm) compared to normal spacing (100x45cm). In both the spacings thrips population was dominated during the initial crop growth period followed by aphid population was gradually increased from 90 days after sowing (DAS), but closer spacing recorded 30-40% higher yields compared to normal spacing.