India is the largest producer and exporter of chillies contributing to almost one-fourth of the world’s production. The important chilli growing states in India are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and also in a number of other states as round the year crop. In chilli, sucking pests cause 60 to 75 per cent yield loss. Recently, invasion of Thrips parvispinus was reported in India causing a widespread severe infestation in more than 0.4 million ha of chilli growing areas. Large scale cultivation of host plants and favourable climatic conditions in India and other countries similar to native range, favour its further spread and establishment. The pest completes its life cycle within 14-15 days and both nymphs and adults lacerate on flowers, leaves and small fruits. So, it is need of the hour to understand this pest in terms of its distribution, host range and damage potentiality to formulate suitable management strategies.
Shetty et al. (Fri,) studied this question.