author(s)
Meinaz Nissar, Akhtar Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain Khan, Khalid Z Masoodi, Anwar Ali Khan, Wali Mohd Wani, Khursheed Hussain, Haroon Rashid Naik and Nageena Nazir

abstract
An experiment was conducted to study the seasonal population buildup of whitefly (Bemisia tabaci, Gennadius) on tomato (Solanum esculentum Mill.), during 2017 and 2018, under protected conditions and its correlation with temperature (maximum and minimum), relative humidity (maximum and minimum) inside polyhouse was observed. It was revealed that the infestation first started with the appearance of adults in the 2^nd fortnight of June and reached maximum during 1^st to 2^nd fortnight of August (nymphs) and 1^st fortnight of September (adults) during the two year study. A positive significant correlation between whitefly population (nymph and adult) and weather parameters viz. temperature (maximum and minimum) was observed. The relative humidity (maximum) exhibited positive nonsignificant whereas relative humidity (minimum) showed a negative nonsignificant correlation with population.