Comparative susceptibility of various pulses and their impact on the biological traits of pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (Linn.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Pulses play a significant role in Indian agriculture, contributing notably to the country’s economy through substantial export earnings. As the world’s leading producer of pulses, India benefits greatly from their cultivation. Pulses are rich in protein, containing 20 to 25 percent by weight, which is twice the protein content found in wheat and three times that of rice. Pulses are infested by many insect-pests during storage, however, pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis is one of the major pest causing substantial losses in different pulses. Out of eight pulses investigated, pulse beetle completed its life cycle on all the pulses with varying time periods. Highest susceptibility index and adult emergence was found in case of green gram while lowest was in case of kidney bean. Talking about the damage and weight loss, it was maximum in case of green gram followed by chickpea while lowest was in case of horse gram and kidney bean. Pulse beetle also affected the germination potential of seeds of every pulse evaluated, however green gram, chickpea, kabuli chickpea and soybean were the most affected ones. Overall, green gram was ranked as most susceptible pulse while, kidney bean followed by horse gram was ranked as least susceptible pulse against C. chinensis. Therefore, concluding the study, green gram and chickpea were found to be most preferred host for C. chinensis and kidney bean and horse gram were least preferred hosts when compared on the basis of parameters like biology, grain damage, weight loss and germination.