Pest control for cowpea plants

Farm Questions
1

Hello ,
Please help me in recognising the pests that are hindring the cgrowth of cowpea and redgram plants[inter crop] in our 2 year old mango orchard and also suggest some organic pest control methods for the same. Photos attached.

Thanks in advance
Prasad

CowPea_spiral_1.jpg800×600 189 KB

2

Is this what you see in a closeup, though possibly in a different colour? It would be aphid then and I think a neem oil spray should work.

3

Thanks Chandra for the response. I will try NeemOil.

Similar lice kind of pest along with white bugs had affected the hibiscus and citrus plats in our kitchen garden. For that I applied Pongamia soap[since Neem soap was out of stock] available from IIHR hesargatta. It seemed effective. I also applied the same to some white fly kind of insects which reside on the back of gauva plant leaf and beetle leaf and it seemed effective on that aswell.

4

The insects are called Aphids,and acientific name is Aphis craccivora.
Symprtoms: Leaves, flowers, leaf sheath covered with black aphids. Ants are attracted by the honey dew secretion of these insects.

Organic control:

  1. Biological predator: ladybugs and lacewings will destroy them. Introduce them from Agri Univ.
  2. Remove and destry the fully infected branches from thefarm.
  3. Make birds to visit your farm. They will eat.
  4. Grow guinea fowl. They will eat.
  5. Place smll honey in cups to keep ants away from aphids. They are protectors of Aphids.
  6. Inter crop antagonistic plants like garlic, onion
  7. Grow caster as trap crop and destroy them.

Pesticide.
Spraying methyl demeton 25 EC 500ml or dimethoate 30 EC 500 ml or phosphomidon 85 WSC 250 ml/ha controls this pest and other sucking pests. But pesticide will also kill the natural predators.