Vol. 9, Special Issue 10, Part P (2025)

A field study was conducted to investigate the seasonal incidence of thrips on chilli crop, (Capsicum annuum L.) var. Phule-Jyoti, during the kharif season from September 2024 to January 2025 at the PG Research Farm, Division of Entomology, Dr. Sharadchandra Pawar College of Agriculture, Baramati, Maharashtra. The study revealed that the thrips infestation began in the second week of September (37^th standard meteorological week) with an average population of 0.67 thrips/leaf/plant. The population peaked at 4.67 thrips/leaf/plant in the first week of November (44^th standard meteorological week), coinciding with weather parameters viz. maximum temperature of 33.3 ⁰C, minimum temperature of 20.6 ⁰C, morning relative humidity of 92%, evening relative humidity of 53%, wind velocity of 5.4 km/hour and sunshine hours of 6.6 hours/day. A secondary peak of 3.93 thrips/leaf/plant occurred in the first week of December (48^th standard meteorological week) with a maximum temperature of 32.7 ⁰C and sunshine hours of 7.8 hours per day. The population declined to 1.84 thrips/leaf/plant by the second week of January (2^nd standard meteorological week) as maximum temperature and sunshine hours decreased. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations between thrips population and maximum temperature (r = 0.465) and sunshine hours (r = 0.614), a non-significant positive correlation with morning relative humidity (r = 0.019), and non-significant negative correlations with minimum temperature (r = -0.071), evening relative humidity (r = -0.354), wind velocity (r = -0.357), and rainfall (r = -0.288). These findings underscore the role of maximum temperature and sunshine hours in driving thrips population dynamics, aiding in the development of timely pest management strategies for chilli cultivation.