Lucknow: Rare pest attacks mango crop in eastern UP

LUCKNOW: A rare pest has attacked mango crop in Gorakhpur and other mango-producing districts in the eastern UP this season. It was after farmers complained of a pest attack in their orchards that scientists at the Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow said it is a rare 'red banded mango caterpillar'.

CISH will hold an awareness programme to educate farmers on the ways to deal with the menace since it is an emerging problem. The pest is not common to India and has been reported as a serious problem in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Burma, Thailand, China, Brunei and Philippines.

Director, CISH, Shailendra Rajan, said, "We asked farmers to send us images of the pest on whatsapp. We verified it as a pest uncommon to India though not new."

Larvae of the pest burrow into the distal end of the mango feeding on its pulp, making it hollow, and then feeding on the seed. A severe attack may lead to at least 40% loss of the crop.

"Up to eleven larvae have been found in a single fruit, but there is mostly only one larva in a single fruit," said the director. The caterpillar affects both the cultivated and naturally growing varieties of mango.

Climatic variation and an infested fruit is the reason behind the pest attack. It can be controlled by removing and destroying fruits with black stain that are likely to carry the larvae and collecting and destroying dried branches and other dead wood in mango orchards in off-season.

CISH will teach ways to combat the pest to farmers in the workshop.