Management of banana leaf and fruit scarring beetle Nodostoma viridipennis motsch in Assam

Abstract

A three years field experiment was conducted at the Assam Agricultural University for evaluating the efficacy of few management strategies against banana leaf and fruit scarring beetle Nodostoma viridipennis on banana cv. Jahaji. Six strategies viz., foliar application of acephate @ 0.1125%, and @ 0.3%, tilling and clean cultivation+ foliar application of quinalphos @ 0.05%, tilling and clean cultivation+ foliar application of acephate @ 0.3%, foliar application of acephate (0.11%) spray+ bunch cover with polypropylene bag, and application of Beauveria bassiana @109 cfu/ml were evaluated along with an untreated control. Results revealed that all these significantly reduced the incidence, number of scars on leaf, fruit injury and increased the yield/yield attributing characters. Foliar application of acephate (0.11%) spray + bunch cover with polypropylene bag was found to be the best in reducing the infestation of N. viridipennis and increasing the yield with the best benefit cost ratio.