Management of Lycoriella ingenua (Diptera: Sciaridae) on oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) through different botanicals

Abstract

Oyster mushroom cultivation may be adversely affected by insect pests, including dark-winged fungus gnats, Lycoriella ingenua Dufour. The experiment was conducted to study the efficacy of different botanicals against L. ingenua on oyster mushroom. Five treatments, i.e., neem aqueous extract (5%), onion bulb extract (4%), garlic bulb extract (4%), eucalyptus leaf extract (6%) and an untreated control were tested. The lowest number of L. ingenua adults 2.69 ± 0.10 was observed in the neem aqueous extract treatments followed by garlic bulb extract (2.89 ± 0.09), while highest number (6.17 ± 0.21) was observed in untreated control followed by eucalyptus leaf extract and onion bulb extract with 3.70 ± 0.08 and 3.39 ± 0.08 number of adults, respectively. Neem aqueous extract treated bags showed a significantly higher mean number of mushrooms (10.14 ± 0.34) compared to control (4.72 ± 0.26). The highest yield (422.6 ± 5.81 g) was obtained from neem aqueous extract treated bags while the lowest yield (198.6 ± 8.00 g) from control. The biological efficiency of oyster mushroom was highest (80.70 ± 0.84%) in neem aqueous extract treated bags while lowest (46.15 ± 2.44%) was observed from control. Similarly, highest moisture content (92.83 ± 1.38%) was recorded from neem aqueous extract treated bags, and lowest moisture content (64.78 ± 2.01%) was recorded from control. Neem aqueous extract reduced the infestation of L. ingenua adults and gave highest yield of mushroom. Therefore, it is recommended that it should be used in the IPM program against L. ingenua on oyster mushroom.