Management of red rust thrips, Chaetanophothripssignipennis (Bagnall) in banana

Abstract

The commercial value of banana is mainly affected by red rust thrips, Chaetanophothripssignipennis(Bagnall) during fruiting phase at maturity. In this context, the trial was framed at F.R.S., N.A.U., Gandevi under ICAR-AICRP (Fruits) programme. The three years data on efficacy of bio-rational pesticides for management of red rust thrips revealed that bud injection of imidacloprid (0.3 ml/ 500 ml water) @ 1 ml/bud exhibited lowest unblemished fruits up to 8.37% over conventional spraying (20.72%) and bunch sleeving method (42.83%). The comparable results on fruit damage (14.83%) was observed with bud injection of azadirachtin (1%) (5 ml/l water) @ 2 ml/bud over conventional spray. The merit of technology furnished higher no. of unblemished fruits (<10%) and original peel superficial appearance remains impassive under bud injection technique with higher benefit cost ratio with very low dose of pesticide provide financial profit to growers and traders. Besides, imidacloprid residue was not detected in harvested fruits and there is no other technology available to remove this malady of banana