THE PHYSIO-MORPHIC CHARACTERS OF THE BRINJAL (SOLANUM MELONGENA L.) PLANT AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE JASSID (AMRASCA BIGUTTULA BIGUTTULA (ISHIDA) POPULATION FLUCTUATION

The brinjal is one of the most favorite host plants of the jassid (Amrasca biguttula biguttula) in the Pakistan. From the lastfew years it has gained the status of serious pest for different crops. The present study was conducted on some selectedvarieties of brinjal to find out the role of physio-morphic plant characters on the population fluctuation of jassid. The effects of physio-morphic characters of brinjal were correlated with the jassids population and their role was calculated by processing the data into simple and multiple linear regression equation. The maximum variations were observed among the resistance and susceptible brinjal genotypes due to plant height, hair density, number of primary branches, thickness of leaf lamina, leaf area, length of hair and moisture percentage. The hair density and length of hair on the lamina, midrib, and veins showed a highly significant negative correlation with the jassids population. While, the moisture percentage is significant and showed negative correlation and plant height showed the non significant negative correlation with the jassid population. Hair density on the lamina and the leaf area showed 78.2% and 5.9 % role respectively in the population fluctuation of jassid. The results showed that the physio-morphic characters of the brinjal plant play vital role in the population fluctuation of jassid.