1. Pest Monitoring and Scouting in Mango
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2. Introduction
A good sampling and monitoring program for insects is essential for implementing an integrated pest management program for mango pests.
A sequential sampling plan for monitoring hopper populations has been developed in India.
Fruit fly numbers are easily monitored with pheromone traps, although trap catches have not been related to the risk to the crop in different areas.
Sampling methods for assessing the status of pest populations has been critical to develop and advance pest control technology.
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3. Insect Pests Survey in Mango
To monitor the initial development of pests in the endemic areas survey is prerequisite.
Therefore, for field scouting farmers should be mobilized to observe the pest’s occurrence at the intervals as stipulated under different development stages.
Recognize and protect the natural enemies of pests commonly found in mango orchards.
The plant protection measures are required to be taken only when bio control potential does not show promise and pest incidence shows increasing trend.
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4. Why Scout Mango Orchards?
Coccinellids (Lady bird beetles) Hover flies or syrphids Chrysopids or Green lace wings Ants
For timely detection of pests
To reduce risk of pest outbreaks
Identify hot-spots
Organize timing of sprays
Availability of bio control potential
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5. How to Scout? Regular weekly scouting
Note down the crop stage viz., vegetative or emergence of inflorescence or full bloom or fruit set or fruit stages (pin head sized or pea sized or marble sized or fully grown) or harvesting.
Select five trees such that four are from four corners and one from the centre of the orchard.
The tree selection for pest observations during each weekly visit should be random
In the selected trees, the observations are to be made from four directions viz., East, South, West and North.
Keep clear records of whatever you find.
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6. Impact of Pest Scouting
1. Awareness among the farming community for adopting IPM techniques. 2. Disorganized spray have been stopped. 3. Application of pesticide as and when needed keeping in view the economic injury level of the pests. 4. Number of the sprays have been reduced from10-12 to 4-6 saving the extra amount spend on pesticides. 5. Conservation of natural enemies by using safe pesticide. 6. Off season management of pests other than chemicals resulting reduced pressures of major pests on crops to a considerable extent.
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7. Pest Monitoring Through Yellow Sticky Traps
Setup yellow fast colored sticky traps for monitoring sucking pests one trap/5 trees. Locally available empty yellow Palmolive-tins coated with grease/ Vaseline/ castor oil on outer surface may also be used.
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8. Pest Monitoring Through White Paper
The inflorescence/leaf/twig gall midge larval population can be monitored by tapping the target plant parts on the white paper and counting their population per tapping.
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9. Pest Monitoring Through Sex Pheromone Traps
These traps are very useful tool in monitoring and control of population of fruit fly.
Hanging of methyl eugenol wooden block traps soaked in ethanol, methyl eugenol and malathion (6:4:1) during fruiting period from April to traps/ ha tie them tightly of 3-5 feet above ground level.
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10. Pest Monitoring: Observation/sampling
Mango Hopper
Number of nymphs and adults in a single panicle/ inflorescence from each direction of selected tree should be visually counted during season.
During off season, standard sweep nets ( 4 sweeps one sweep per direction) should be used to sample the hoppers resting on tree trunks after disturbance using net. Make sweeps across the zone of flight of hoppers.
Empty the net after each counting
Mango Mealy bug
Number of mealybug infested panicles or shoots from each direction of the selected tree should be visually counted during season and off season.
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11. Pest Monitoring: Observation/sampling
Leaf Webber
Count the number of webs formed in the whole tree.
Scale Insects
Number of scale infested shoots per five tender shoots from each of the four directions of the selected tree should be counted
Shoot gall psylla
Number of infested terminal shoots of the selected tree should be counted. If psylla infested shoots are found, number of galls should also be counted and recorded.
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12. Let us sum up
Through sampling, accurate information is obtained to make accurate decisions which should be based on knowledge of the pest’s economic threshold level.
Many mango pests are quarantine concerns for many producing countries, for which monitoring methods should be geared to detect the presence or absence of the pest and where its mere presence will trigger a pesticide application.
Setup of yellow fast colored sticky traps for sucking pests, white paper method for gall midge, and methyl euginol based pheromone trap have been found successful for monitoring the populations of these pests in mango.
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