Aphids covering my mustard pods and shoots, sticky and stunted, what to do?

Dense colonies of soft greenish grey insects smothering the flowering tops and pods, with sticky curling stunted shoots and ants around, is mustard aphid, the major pest of the crop in the cold flowering and pod stage. Heavy attack at flowering and pod fill can cause big yield and oil loss, so monitor from flowering. The economic threshold is commonly when a good share of plants carry colonies on the central twig, often around 25 to 30 aphids per 10 cm of central twig, then act. Clip and destroy the first few heavily infested top twigs to remove the founder colonies. Conserve ladybird beetles, which can clear light infestations. On threshold spray a recommended insecticide, rotate modes of action, and time the spray in the afternoon to protect foraging bees during flowering, following label dose and PHI. Confirm the threshold and current chemical with your KVK or ICAR Directorate of Rapeseed Mustard Research, Bharatpur, which is in your district.