Incidence of Insect Pests of Carrot, Daucus carota L. and Their Natural Enemies with Special Reference to Carrot Fly, Melanagromyza sp.

Roving survey was conducted in major carrot growing districts of Karnataka, India during rabi/summer 2021-22 to record the incidence of different insect pests and their natural enemies in carrot at the pre-rooting stage and rooting stage. Observations were made from the three randomly selected spots in each field and from each spot, five plants were observed for incidence by looking at the symptoms inflicted by the different insect pests. Data on damage by agromyzid fly was registered by adopting destructive sampling method. Among the three districts surveyed, the highest mean % infestation of agromyzid fly during the pre-rooting stage was recorded in Gadag (22.40%) followed by Dharwad (19.63%) and Belagavi district (15.12%). During rooting stage, the highest mean % infestation of agromyzid fly was documented in Gadag (50.56%) followed by Belagavi district (48.09%) and Dharwad (46.56%). Gadag witnessed the highest % damage of the agromyzid fly during pre-rooting and rooting stages which might be due to year-round cultivation of carrot. Further, monocropping without crop rotation might have attributed to the highest incidence of insect pest of carrot. Sucking insect pests are of minor importance as compared to agromyzid fly, as it causes damage to edible taproot which is of economic importance in carrot cultivation.