Control of fruit fly in mango
FRUIT FLY causes severe reduction in mango yield.
It oviposits inside the semi ripened fruit, which turns brown in colour and finally rots.
Maggots, which emerge from the fruits start boring inside the fruits which results in the dropping of mango fruits before they come to ripening.
Fruit fly menace is seen in the places having hot humid weather with intermittent rains during April and May. From June onwards its incidence is very high in all the places.
Pest characteristics
About eight species of fruit flies are recorded on mango fruits. Among them, Bactrocera dorsalis is the most important one.
The adults are light brown with transparent wings and yellow coloured legs. Adult fruit fly lays 2-15 white coloured eggs by piercing into the semi ripened fruit. Hatched maggots start boring inside the fruit and after development grown up maggots drop down and pupate in the soil. Adults emerging from pupae complete 5-6 generations in a year.
Control measures
Deep ploughing in summer destroys the fruit fly pupae.
Destroy the dropped fruits around the trees, which are infested.
Install 10 fruit fly traps/ha containing a mixture of 1 ml of methyl eugenol, which acts as attractant and 1 ml of malathion 50 EC (insecticide) in one litre of water i.e. 100 ml of solution in each trap.
Spray dimethoate 30 EC at 1.7 ml/lit with 10 g of jaggery/lit of water during fruit ripening period.
R. RAJANIKANTHA,
B.V.PATIL & S.G.HANCHINAL
Department of Agricultural Entomology
College of Agriculture, Raichur, Karnataka
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