Evaluation and Efficacy of Pest Management Modules for cucur-bits against Fruitfly,Bactrocera cucurbitae(Coquillett) in Andaman

Abstract

Fruit fly (Dacus cucurbitae) is a major pest of cultivated cucurbits. Among cucurbits, incidence was more in bitter gourd and ridge gourd as compared to other cucurbitaceous veg-etables. IPM module has been developed for the successful management of cucurbit fruit fly. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) module com-prising of installation of cue-lure baited traps @ 50 traps/ha for mass trapping, weekly clipping of infested fruits, foliar spray of aqueous leaf ex-tracts of Morinda citrifolia @ 100g/l and foliar spray of spinosad 45SC or imidacloprid 17.8SL @ 0.3ml/l alternately at 15 days interval was found effective with respect to less fruit damage due to fruit fly (9%) and maximum fruit yield (10.75 t/ha) in bitter gourd as compared to un-treated control (39.3% fruit damage and fruit yield 5.53 t/ha). The same trend was also noticed in ridge gourd also. IPM module was found bet-ter with respect to less fruit damage (5.9%) and maximum fruit yield (7.59t/ha) in ridge gourd. The yield in untreated control plots was recorded 3.46t/ha. IPM module for cucurbit fruit fly gave higher cost benefit ratio of 1: 3.35 in IPM and 1: 2.30 in non-IPM fields of bitter gourd and 1: 1.99 in IPM and 1: 1.23 in non-IPM fields of ridge gourd, respectively. IPM module for cucur-bit fruit fly gave higher incremental cost benefit ratio of 1: 3.35 in IPM and 1: 2.30 in non-IPM fields of bitter gourd and 1: 1.99 in IPM and 1: 1.23 in non-IPM fields of ridge gourd, respectively. By using these management practices, application of synthetic insecticides can be reduced and low-er the risk to people, wildlife and the environ-ment.