🍆Brinjal — India's Favourite Solanaceous Vegetable

In the fertile fields of West Bengal, a farmer inspects his brinjal crop and notices a wilted shoot tip — the telltale “dead heart” sign of the fruit and shoot borer, the single most destructive pest of brinjal across South and Southeast Asia. Understanding how to identify and manage this pest is as critical for farming success as it is for clearing competitive agriculture exams.

Brinjal (also known as eggplant or aubergine) is one of the most commonly grown vegetables in India and tropical Asia. Its characteristic purple colour comes from anthocyanin pigments, and its slight bitterness is due to naturally occurring glycoalkaloids.

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Botanical Identity

Brinjal belongs to the Solanaceae family, making it a close relative of tomato, chilli, and potato. Seeds are first sown in a nursery and the seedlings are later transplanted to the main field.

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Important Varieties

Open-Pollinated Varieties

Hybrid Varieties

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Major Pests

1. Fruit and Shoot Borer (Most Important Pest)

• Scientific Name: Leucinodes orbonalis
• Family/Order: Pyralidae, Lepidoptera
• Damage: Causes “dead heart” in young plants — larvae bore into the growing tip of young shoots, killing them. In the fruiting stage, larvae enter fruits, making them unfit for consumption.
• Management: Spirotetramat 150 SC @ 75 g a.i./ha or Flubendiamide 48 SC @ 60 g a.i./ha

2. Hadda Beetle

• Scientific Name: Epilachna vigintioctopunctata
• Family: Coccinelidae
• Note: Unlike most ladybird beetles (which are beneficial predators), the Hadda beetle is phytophagous (plant-feeding). Both adults and grubs scrape the leaf surface, creating a skeletonized appearance.

3. Brown Leaf Hopper

• Scientific Name: Cestius phycitis
• Significance: Acts as the vector for the phytoplasma that causes the devastating little leaf disease
• Management: Imidacloprid 200 SL @ 75 g a.i./ha

4. Ash Weevils

• Scientific Name: Myllocerus subfasciatus
• Damage: Leaf-feeding beetles that create characteristic notching on leaf margins. Called “ash weevils” because of the greyish-white scales covering their body.

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Major Disease: Little Leaf

• Cause: Mycoplasma (Phytoplasma) — cell-wall-less bacteria that inhabit the phloem tissue
• Symptoms: Excessive branching, shortened internodes, small and narrow leaves, giving the plant a bushy and stunted appearance with drastically reduced fruit set
• Vector: Leaf hopper — Cestius phycitis
• Management: Control the leaf hopper vector through insecticide sprays; remove and destroy infected plants

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Pest and Disease Comparison

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Summary Table — Quick Exam Revision

Brinjal Quick Revision Table

Fact	Answer
Botanical name	Solanum melongena
Family	Solanaceae
Purple pigment	Anthocyanin
Bitterness compound	Glycoalkaloids
Vitamin content	Vitamin B complex
Seed rate	200 g/ha
Most important pest	Fruit & shoot borer (L. orbonalis)
Key pest symptom	”Dead heart” in shoots
Little leaf caused by	Phytoplasma (Mycoplasma)
Little leaf vector	Leaf hopper (Cestius phycitis)
Earliest maturing variety	Pusa Purple Long
Highest yielding hybrid	Arka Navneet
Nematode resistant varieties	Black Beauty, Arka Neelkantha
Phomopsis resistant varieties	Pant Samrat, Pusa Bhairav
Aphid resistant variety	Annamalai (for Tamil Nadu)

Summary Cheat Sheet