Cultural Practices	Physical practices
Summer ploughing	Healthy Seedlings
Field sanitation	Hand Picking of eggs, Larvae & Insects
Crop Rotation	Collecting and destroying ofaffected plants
Trap Crops
Resistant Varieties
Sowing Time	Biological Methods
Planting distance	Natural enemies
Fertilizer Management	Biopesticides
Water Management

Insect pest management in tobacco

Mechanical Control Methods	Chemical Methods
Light Traps	Using of Chemicals
Colour Traps
Pheramone Traps	Chemicals of Plant origin
Bird Petches	Neem Cake, Neem Oil Pongamia Cake

Summer Ploughing

Deep ploughing in Summer Can Control Spodoptera egg masses root knot nematode, fungus and weeds by exposing to the scorching sun of summer. It also controls orabanche.

Field Sanitation

• After harvesting of leaves, the stubbles has to be collected and destroyed. Ploughing after harvest can control pests and diseases.

Crop Rotation

• Mono Cropping of Tobacco leads to increase in the incidence of pests and diseases especially orabanche and Root knot nematodes.
• Crop rotation with Ground nut, Cotton, Sesamum, Chillies can control the incidence of Root knot to larger extent and also controls orabanche.
• Growing blackgram, Green gram and Gingelly in Kharif preceding tobacco is beneficial in black soils.

Trap Cropping

Raising castor in one row, Surrounding the nursery and main field and daily collection and destruction of egg masses and larvae from the trap crop will control the pests.

Growing of Resistant Varieties

• Growing of Blackshank resistant varieties likes MC nair - 12, Cm-12 and T.M.V resistant varieties like CTRL spefcial (MR); Jayasree (MR) V.T.1158, Hema (M.R) and 16/103 (M.R) give high yields.

Planting Time

• Timely planting of tobacco can protect the crop form pests and diseases.

Planting Distance

• Optimum distance between Plants should be maintained. Close planting of Seedlings leads to incidence of Pests & Diseases.
• Planting at optimum distance can control pests and diseases by providing favourable sunlight, air and natural enemies.

Fertilizer Management

• Apply only recommended doses of important inorganic fertilizers like N, P and K.
• High Nitrogen in plants leads to yellowing of leaves there by increases the incidence of pests and diseases, hence recommended dosage of Nitrogen has to be applied.

Water Management

• Timely irrigation in nursery can control damping off disease.

Light Traps

• By arranging the light traps in field can identify the type and severity of the incidence of pests and appropriate plant protection measures can be adopted.

Pheramone Traps

Installing 5 Pheramone traps (loaded with 2.5mg liture pheramone) per acre can control tobacco caterpillar.

Coloured Traps

• Installing yellow-coloured galvanized ironsheet traps coated with castor oil @5per acre can control the spread of white fly.

Bird Petches

• Installing 3-4 Bird Petches in the field facilitates birds to eat the larvae.

Natural Enemies

Telonemus remus

Releasing of Telenomus remus, an egg Parasite @1.2 Lakhs / ha in three phases of 40,000 / ha at 15-20 days interval, starting from one week after transplanting of seedlings can control the egg stage of Tobacco Caterpillar.

Apantelus africanus

Releasing of Apanteles affricanus an early larval Parasite@10,000 /ha in in three phases of 3,500/ha at 15-20 days interval can control larvae of tobacco caterpillar.

Bio Pesticides

• Two to Three Sprays of NPV @ 250 LE/ha in 1125 litre of water, at 15-20 days interval can control all larval stages of tobacco caterpillar.
• Spraying of Biopesticide like Bacillus thurengenesis (B.T) can control the tobacco Caterpiller.

• Discriminate use of chemicals as when needed at appropriate time with recommended doses can control pests and diseases effectively with out any environmental pollution.