Impact of sowing periods on incidence of stem fly, Melanagromyza sojae (Zehntner) in summer black gram

Abstract

Six sowing periods during summer (4th week of February, 1st week of March, 2nd week of March, 3rd week of March, 4th week of March and 1st week of April) was evaluated for its impact on incidence of stem fly, Melanagromyza sojae (Zehntner) infesting black gram at Entomology Farm, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand. The black gram crop sown during 1st and 2nd week of March exhibited low larval (0.22 and 0.26 /plant), pupal (0.22 and 0.27 /plant) counts of the pest as well as less infestation (28.38 and 29.73%, respectively) and tunnelling (8.92 and 9.45%, respectively) than rest of the sowing periods during summer season. Maximum seed yield was recorded in the crop sown during 2nd week of March (597 kg/ha) followed by 1st week of March (564 kg/ha).