Farmers’ Knowledge on Cucurbits Fruit Fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae, Conquillet) and their Management at Lamjung District

Abstract

Cucurbit fruit fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae) is major problem of cucurbit vegetables. A random survey was conducted among 60 respondents of semi-commercial and commercial cucurbit vegetable growers in Lamjung district from January to February 2018. Semi-structured questionnaire designed in open and closed-ended questions which were used to assess farmer’s knowledge on cucurbit fruit fly and their management practices. The result revealed that 65% respondents prefer to grow cucumber. Similarly, 81% of the respondents claimed that fruit fly was the major insect, followed by red pumpkin beetle (15%). 50% of the respondents had knowledge about the life cycle. Only 10% of respondents could identify male and female fruit fly. 50% responded that its damage is severe in cucumber, followed by bottle gourd (23.3%) and pumpkin (21.7%). Likewise, 95% of the respondents used pheromone trap and 41.7% of the respondents claimed that pheromone trap is the best fruit fly control measure followed by chemicals (31.7%) and botanicals (26.7%). From environmental point of view, none agreed to the use of chemicals pesticides, 76.7 and 80% of the respondents agreed that botanicals are best for environment safety and cost effective respectively. It is important to train cucurbit growers to improve their capabilities regarding fruit fly management through botanicals, which is appropriate for helping them acquire basic knowledge on fruit fly and their control and enable the most receptive farmers to reach a level of independent decision-making. Keywords: Cucurbit fruit fly, cucurbit growers, pheromone trap, botanicals Cite this Article Gurung TB, Kafle K, Pokharel S, et al. Farmers’ Knowledge on Cucurbits Fruit Fly ( Bactrocera cucurbitae , Conquillet) and their Management at Lamjung District. Research & Reviews: Journal of Crop Science and Technology . 2018; 7(3): 21–26p.