ICT-based surveillance of hoppers and thrips in mango orchards of Maharashtra, India

The present global mango production faces various kinds of environmental and ecological fluctuations including biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore in order to develop suitable management techniques, it is essential to have thorough understanding of the population dynamics and damage potential of the mango pests. Hence the present experiment was carried out to study the influence of particular seasonal months on the incidence of mango hoppers and thrips under field conditions. The highest degree of infestation by hoppers was detected in March (22.210 hoppers per shoot/panicle), followed by February (21.336) and January (18.863). The peak prevalence of the thrips were observed in the month of February (26 - 50% of fruit area damaged) followed by January and March (1 - 25% of fruit area damaged). The occurrence and seasonal prevalence data generated from the present study can be used to manage the population of hoppers and thrips on mango and this study have far-reaching implications in pest management strategy and the data so generated would help in the forecast of hoppers and thrips.