Management of Bactrocera Cucurbitae Coq. Through Pheromone Traps and Bio-Rational Insecticides in Bitter Gourd

The treatments consisted the use of pheromones traps along with discarding of infested/damaged fruits at each harvest and sprays of biorational insecticides, like spinosad (Spinotar 45 SC 1 ml/2.5 L) and azadirachtin 0.15% (Achook @ 2 ml/L) in different combinations, these treatments were compared with the farmers’ practice of alternate sprays of endosulfan (Thiodan 35 EC @ 2 ml/L) followed by carbaryl (Sevin 50 WP @ 2 g/L) at 10 day interval, and an untreated control. The results revealed that the average mean percentage of fruit damage was the lowest in package of treatment such as installation of sex pheromone traps and spinosad spray along with discarding of infested/damaged fruits at each harvesting, resulting in the highest yield of marketable fruits (145.26 q/ha). But installation of sex pheromone trap alone treatment showed the highest C:B ratio of 1:13.27, which in other treatments varied between 1:1.59 and 1:7.71, whereas, in farmer’s practice the increased in yield over control as a result of insecticidal sprays was the lowest C:B ratio of 1:1.59.