BARI Entomologists report occurrence of harmful insect ‘Jumping plant bug (Halticus minutus)’ in Bangladesh.

The scientists of the Entomology Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI)  first identified the harmful insect ‘Jumping plant bug (Halticus minutus Reuter)’ in Bangladesh. Scientists observed this species, which is a new exotic insect, in pointed gourd fields recently in Abdulpur, Jashore Sadar, Jashore, which was the first report of its occurrence in Bangladesh.

“The pest was found damaging pointed gourd crop by sucking sap from leaves”, said BARI Entomologists. They observed that the pest infestation was under control. However, farmers should not be panicked due to infestation of this pest, because BARI has already formulated effective management strategy against this pest.

To resist this pest attack, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of the Entomology Division of BARI, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Dutta advised the farmers not to spray toxic chemical insecticides indiscriminately as this practice would kill the beneficial insects which naturally control the pest.  However, clean cultivation practices, regular monitoring of the crop for pest incidence and need based spraying of biopesticide ‘spinosad’ or other less toxic new generation chemical insecticides can be done with the consultation of agricultural extension personnel.

It is to be noted here that the insect pest is widely distributed across Asia and the Pacific region. It is considered a major pest in parts of Asia, particularly in sweet potato and soybean crops. It is also reported as pests of different vegetables such as cucurbits, beans, cabbage etc.