IARI Regional Station, Agricultural College Estate, Shivajinagar, Pune-411005.
Abstracts of the papers presented at the 16th Annual Convention and International Symposium of Indian Virological Society on “Management of Vector-Borne Viruses” at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru-502324, Hyderabad, India, February 7–10, 2006.
An integrated strategy to minimize losses in papaya (Carica papaya) cv. CO-2 due to PRSV incidence was tested at Experimental Farm, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Regional Station, Pune during 2004. The strategy included i) raising border crop of banana to check aphid-vector population, ii) use of cross-protected seedlings, iii) optimum date of transplanting, iv) application of systemic insecticide, and v) various combinations of NPK. Banana suckers were planted four months before papaya seedling transplantation as a border crop. Cross-protected papaya seedlings were transplanted on 05, 15 and 25 February 2004. Four doses of dimethoate were applied via foliar sprays at monthly intervals, complemented with 2% neem oil. Four split doses of various combinations of NPK were applied at alternate month. In seedlings transplanted on 05th February, plant height (1.41 m) and collar diameter (3.74 cm) at the time of flowering, number of female plants (83.33%), and fruit yield (30.02 kg/plant/year) were the highest. Incidence of PRSV, until fruit set was, minimum on plants transplanted on 5th February (18.25% of total number of plants). PRSV infection caused 41.12% yield loses when plants were infected between flowering and fruit set and 34.43% yield loses when plants were infected after fruit set when compared with the yield of plants infected after fruit development stage. The aphid-vector population was corresponding with the incidence of PRSV during that period. The protection provided by integrated virus management practices resulted into 48.65 per cent papaya plants free from PRSV symptoms until fruit setting.
