Front Line Demonstration on Management of Tea Mosquito Bug

Cashew is one of the important crops in India occupying 24,000 ha in agency area of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh state. Even though quiet a number of pests are reported, the tea mosquito bug, Helopeltis antonii is the most serious pest causing considerable yield losses in cashew. Tribal farmers in agency area hardly follow any pest management practices and in the light of this a front line demonstration was conducted during 2009 '10 to help farmers in the management of H. antonii. The objective of the present study was to demonstrate and dessiminate the technology to the needy tribal farmers on the management of this serious pest in cashew plantation. The results of the demonstration indicated that out of four treatments Monocrotophos or Profenofos + Endosulfan + Carbaryl or Dimethoate was found to be superior to all other treatments in the management of tea mosquito bug. The demonstration convinced the farmers about its superiority over their traditional practice of using Monocrotophos once in two years.