Management of fruit flies infesting muskmelon through eco-friendly modules

Three different fruit fly management modules were evaluated in muskmelon during the kharif, 2018 and rabi, 2018–19 at College of Horticulture, Anantharajupeta. The eco-friendly module II (IPM) which is the integration of different aspects viz., maintenance of field sanitation, poison baiting with rotten banana, bait spray of deltamethrin mixed with jaggery at flowering, installation of cue lure traps from fruit set onwards, spray of 5% NSKE and malathion at 40 and 60 DAS respectively is the most effective and economical method for the management of fruit flies in muskmelon crop with lower fruit fly infestation (18.58%) and higher returns (BC ratio 2.8). Further, quality analysis results indicated that, average fruit weight, TSS were highest (1.27 Kg, 11.39^o) in module II. Finally from the above results it can be concluded that the effectiveness of the three fruit fly management modules lies in the order of IPM >Organic IPM> Farmers practice.