Comparative study of two bushy lac insect host plants Flemingia semialata Roxb. ex W.T. Aitonand Flemingia macrophylla (Wild.) Merr. And lac insect performance

Abstract

Flemingia spp. are very promising species for lac cultivation in India. The present study was conducted to find out the best performing species between F. semialata and F. macrophylla for lac cultivation. It was resulted that seed size, viability and germination of F. semialata was greater as compared to F. macrophylla. Subsequently, lac insect survival per cent (92.51%) and scrap lac (30.77gm) was found to be more in F. semialata as compared F. macrophylla (62.84%) and (26.36 gm), respectively. While, the plant growth of F. macrophylla was found to be faster, with more branching and crown development. Hence, these findings indicated that F. semialata is a better option for sustainable lac insect rearing and more lac recovery and farmer’s benefit point of view.