Agricultural scientists have suggested several remedies, including organic pesticides, against a thrips attack on mango trees of Muthalamada, the mango city of Kerala. Muthalamada is facing a devastation from the thrips infestation, especially when the mango orchards flowered in January.
C.A. Jayaprakash, entomology principal scientist at ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, suggested that Nanma, one of the three hugely popular biopesticides developed by the CTCRI, could be effective against the thrips attack at Muthalamada.
Dr. Jayaprakash is planning a collaborative venture with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Thrissur, to address the thrips infestation at Muthalamada. “Our biopesticide Nanma has been found very effective against thrips. We have successfully applied it at several places, including Andhra Pradesh,” said Dr. Jayaprakash.
He said they were planning to spray the pesticide with the help of a drone at Muthalamada. “It will not kill the thrips immediately. But it will repel them, and prevent them from re-emerging,” he said.
Dr. Jayaprakash said that their help was sought when thrips attacked chili crops in Andhra Pradesh. “We could deal with the thrips very effectively with our biopesticide,” he said.
The CTCRI had recently developed three organic pesticides namely Nanma, Menma, and Shreya from cassava leaf extract. When Nanma and Menma were found effective against banana pseudostem weevil, Shreya was found useful against mealy bugs and white flies in vegetable crops.
“Although we have not tried it on mango trees, the effectiveness of Nanma against thrips is proven. We tried it on fycus, and it was a success,” said Dr. Jayaprakash.
Mango farmers and traders who took the orchards on lease have tried many pesticides against the thrips attack, which recurred in the last four years. “The attack has increased over the years, especially with the climate change. The rains between September and November destroyed the early flowers in our orchards and delayed the flowering to January. When it flowers in January, we get the yield in March-April and end up suffering a huge loss because of poor price for mango during that period,” said M. Sachindran, a leading farmer at Muthalamada.
The advantage of Muthalamada mangoes used to be their early appearance in the market. Mangoes from Muthalamada used to reach Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai markets in January and February, well before mangoes from other parts of the country would arrive. The delayed flowering, coupled with thrips attack, has deprived Muthalamada of this advantage.
