Natural Enemies of Ginger Insect Pests Parasitoids Predators Flowering plants that attract natural enemies/repel pests Natural enemies Attractant/Repellent/Trap plants Shoot borer: • Parasitoids: Bracon sp (larval), myosoma sp (larval), Apanteles sp (larval) , Xanthopimpla sp (larval and pupal) etc., • Predators: Chrysoperla zastrowi sillemi, coccinellids, king crow, wasp, dragonfly, spiders, robber fly, reduviid bug, praying mantids, fire ants Entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) of the genus Rhabditis/Oscheius and Hexamermis sp. • Attractant plants for natural enemies: Carrot family, sunflower family, buckwheat, alfalfa, corn, shrubs (lacewing and ladybird beetle). • Nectar rich plants with small flowers i.e. anise, caraway, dill, parsley, mustard, sunflower, buckwheat and cowpea (braconid wasp) • Maintaining hedgerows around the turmeric plantation also helps to maintain a population of ladybird beetle, spiders, etc. • Mulching with green leaves @ 4–4.5 t/acre at the time of planting. It is repeated @ 2 t/acre at 40 and 90 days after planting. • Use of Lantana camara and Vitex negundo as mulch at the time of planting may reduce the infection of shoot borer. • EPN Rhabditis/Oscheius as biopesticides for management of the shoot borer and other insect pests of turmeric. Soft rot: • Incorporation of neem cake and pine needle in the soil. • Different types of cropping systems cropping like maize, papaya, cucumber, pumpkin, yam, tapioca and different types of leguminous crops. • Application of oil cakes made from Azadirachta indica, Calophyllumino phyllum, Pongamia glabra, Hibiscus sabdariffa and Brassica campestris • Intercrop ginger with maize and pineapple. Bacterial wilt: Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) • Raised bed 30 cm with 1 meter width. • Crop rotation with maize, cotton, and soybean. • Incorporation of Pseudomonas spp. AM and other BCAs @ 1Kg/per acre with well decomposed FYM • AM fungi Fusarium wilt or yellows: • Raised bed. • Practice Biodisinfestation procedures like soil incorporation of cruciferous plants, soil solarisation during hottest months for 60 days. • Apply pine needle and neem cake powder soil treatments. Root-knot nematode: • Intercropping with marigold @ 5:1 • Deep ploughing or solarized beds of infested fields during summer. • Repellant plants for nematodes: Marigold plantation, Gliricidia, Asparagus, Dahelia etc. • Crop rotation: Marigold, Chrysanthemum, Sesbania, Crotalaria spp., Gaillardia, castor bean and Desmodium spp., • Border crops: Strips of rye grass, cover crops and mulch beds (rove beetle) • Soil incorporation of Gliricidia compost, neem cake 0.8 t / acre IPM for Ginger To know the IPM practices for Ginger, click here. Source: NIPHM and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage