Influence of meteorological parameters on the seasonal abundance and distribution of major sucking insect pests of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]

Field experiments were conducted during the Kharif seasons of 2023 and 2024 in the Varanasi region to study the population fluctuations of jassid (Amrasca biguttula biguttula Ishida) and whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.) on okra and their relationship with weather variables. Weekly data on jassid and whitefly populations on okra were taken through simple random sampling, whereas different abiotic parameters were obtained from the meteorological observatory of the institute. The results revealed that the jassid population commenced from 32nd and 31st SMW in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The highest jassid population was observed during the 37th SMW in both years. The maximum temperature, minimum temperature, maximum relative humidity, sunshine hr and minimum relative humidity had significant positive correlations with these two major sucking pests, whereas a negative and non-significant correlation was established between maximum relative humidity, whitefly population, minimum relative humidity, rainfall, evaporation and wind speed in both seasons. In 2024, the wind speed (r = -0.549) had a significant negative correlation with the jassid population. For whitefly, significant negative correlations were found with sunshine hr (r = -0.703), rainfall (r = -0.595) and evaporation (r = -0.622) in 2023.