Mungbean Production, IPM

Insect Pest Management
Mungbean Production

	Beanfly is the most important insect pest of mungbean. It causes significant damage during the seedling stage. The adult flies are too tiny and cannot be recognized easily. The beanfly maggots feed inside the plant stem and their damage cannot be seed from the outside. Mungbeans must be protected against beanflies. At AVRDC, monocrotophos or omethoate or dimethoate is sprayed at 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days after emergence. The first three sprays are very important and must not be delayed.


	Aphids usually occur on mungbean. If you notice unusually high aphid populations (over 20 insects/plant), spray an insecticide such as dimethoate once a week until aphids are eradicated.

	Mungbean is also infested by pod borers. When infestation of pod borers is very severe over large areas of your field, spray chlorpyrifos or fenvalerate at weekly intervals, until the infestation is controlled.

	Mungbean is sometimes attacked by stink bugs. If you observe unusually high populations of this pest (3-4 insects/meter row) uniformly over an entire field when pods are still green, spray with fenvalerate or deltamethrin at weekly intervals until the infestation stops.

	Bruchids, commonly called pulse beetles or cowpea weevils, attack mungbean both in field and storage. But the greater losses occur in stored grains. The nutritional quality of the grains deteriorates because of bruchid infestation rendering them unmarketable. To control bruchids: clean storage area properly, dry seeds well, and apply non-toxic chemicals such as vegetable oils. For large-scale storage, fumigation with phosphine or other suitable fumigants can be adopted. Always follow the label directions whenever using any pesticides.