Introduction Tomato growers prefer buying quality seedlings grown in professional nurseries to have an assured supply of healthy planting material. Tomato nursery is infested by many insects pest which affect the growth, vigor and quality of the seedlings produced in the nursery. Tomato seedlings need to be protected from pests like whiteflies, thrips, aphids, leaf hoppers, mites etc. Various methods such as cultural, mechanical, chemical, biological, can be used for managing pest population at lower level in tomato nursery.

Aphids Aphids are soft, oblong insects about 2.5 mm in length. They suck cell sap from young plant parts and affect their growth. Management practices: Removal of residues of earlier crop from nursery site. Use nitrogen fertilizer in less amounts and FYM in ample amounts. Spraying solution of soap and cow urine or neem cake extract. Spraying of ml/liter. or 0.5 ml/liter. or Oxydemeton 1ml/liter reduces the pest population..

Aphids infestation on Tomato seedlings Aphid infestation on Tomato leaves Aphids

Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) Adult white fly are 1-2 mm long and are feeds on the leaf sap. It lays eggs on the underside of leaves and hatch after one week. Management practices: Spraying of Dimethoate 30 ml/liter or Phosphamidon ml/liter or Oxydemeton methyl 25 1ml/liter.

Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) Whitefly infestation on Tomato seedlings Whitefly infestation on Tomato leaves

Thrips Thrips are very small insects about 0.5 to 2 mm long. They lay eggs on leaves. Larvae appear after about 10 days. Larvae and adult thrips suck leaf sap resulting into silvery spots on the leaves. A few thrips species acts as vectors of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV). Management practices: Deep ploughing of the nursery site in summer can kill pupating thrips. Spraying with soap or neem cake extract is useful. However, spraying of Dimethoate 30 ml/liter is very effective.

Eggs and larvae of thrips on Tomato seedlings Thrips infestation on Tomato leaves Thrips

Leafhoppers (Empoasca fabae) Leaf hopper are about 2-3 mm long and walk sideways when disturbed. They lay green banana-shaped eggs on the underside of the leaves. Nymphs and adults suck cell sap from leaf cells. In severe infestation the entire leaf turns light green in color. Management practices: Using leaf hopper resistant cultivars. Spraying Neem or Karanj or Pyrethrum extracts. Spraying Lambda-cyhalothrin 0.5 ml/liter or Acetamiprid 0.5 ml/iter.

Eggs and larvae of thrips on Tomato seedlings Thrips infestation on Tomato leaves Leaf hoppers (Empoasca fabae)

Mites (Tetranychus species.) Mites are spider-like insects which forms an airy web of thin threads. Mites are smaller than 1 mm, often yellow, red or orange in color and lay eggs on the underside of leaf. Larvae and adult insects suck sap from the leaves and stems which turns yellow and dries. The mite infestation and damage is more in summer and dry season. Management practices: Mites infestation is less in monsoon. Spray with soap or kerosene-soap solution. Spraying of Dicofol can reduce mites populations.