Integrated Management of White Grubs in Groundnut: Sustainable and Climate-smart Approaches
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/aabr.2026.3.02.07Keywords:
Groundnut, White grubs, Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassianaAbstract
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important oilseed and food legume in India, supporting nutritional security, rural livelihoods, and the national oilseed economy, especially in semi-arid regions such as Gujarat. However, its productivity is seriously threatened by white grubs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The larvae feed on roots and pegs, causing heavy plant mortality and yield losses that can exceed 40% during outbreak years. Damage is particularly severe under rainfed conditions, in light-textured soils, and under increasing climatic variability that influences pest emergence, survival, and spread. This review brings together available research on Integrated White Grub Management (IWGM) in groundnut, with a focus on Indian conditions and Gujarat agro-ecosystems. The evidence clearly indicates that exclusive dependence on chemical insecticides is neither reliable nor sustainable, owing to inconsistent field performance, environmental risks, and regulatory constraints. In contrast, IWGM, by integrating cultural practices such as crop rotation, deep summer ploughing, and timely sowing with biological control agents, mechanical methods, seed treatments, and need-based chemical interventions, provides more effective and environmentally responsible suppression of white grub populations. The coordinated use of these components improves early crop establishment, stabilizes yields under drought and erratic rainfall, and reduces overall pesticide use through judicious, threshold-based applications. Biological control agents, particularly Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana applied at 2.5-5.0 kg ha⁻¹ (FYM-based formulations), along with entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditis spp.) at 2.5-5.0 × 10⁹ infective juveniles ha⁻¹, offer sustained soil-level regulation of white grub populations when supported by appropriate agronomic practices. During outbreak situations, targeted application of relatively safer insecticides at economic threshold levels, such as imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, chlorantraniliprole, fipronil, and clothianidin, provides effective corrective control. Overall, IWGM emerges as a climate-resilient, economically viable, and sustainable strategy for managing white grubs in groundnut-based production systems, particularly well-suited to smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions.
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