The grubs of a small, greenish blue beetle cause damage.
The grubs are short, stout, pale white in colour and often assume a shape resembling ‘C’, which feeds on cardamom roots.
Symptoms start as yellowing of leaves, which later result in the drying up and death of the plant.
Management
Collect the beetle with hand nets or sticky traps at the time of mass emergence (March-April and August-September) and destroy.
Soil application of Entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditis indica) as cadavers @ 4 cadavers per plant is recommended
Cadavers should be buried in soil (5-10 cm deep) on all the four sides of the plant
Soil drenching with formulations of Entomo-pathogenic fungi like Metarhiizum anisopliae (NBAIR strain Ma6) or Beauveria bassiana (NBAIR strain Bb5a) having 10°c.f.u/g @ 10g/l (5-10 l/plant)
