Insect Pest Management of Cucurbitaceous Crops

Insect Pest Management of Cucurbitaceous Crops

1. Red Pumpkin Beetle:

It is the most serious insect pest of cucurbits. The larvae and adult of this pest cause damage by eating away the young leaves and flowers at the seedling and flowering stage respectively. The grub bores into the roots and fruits lie on the ground and pupate in the soil.

Control Measures:

i) Hand pickling and dusting keratinized ash is the most common method of controlling this pest.

ii) Spraying the crop with Malathion 50 EC or Dichlorovus (Nuvan, Vapona etc) @ 2 ml per liter of water can control this pest.

Fruit Fly:

The maggots of this pest into the fruit and feed on the pulp, as a result of which is starts rooting.

Control Measures:

i) Collection and destruction of all infested fruit in the field will help in minimizing the damage to the crop.

ii) Dusting the crop with Malathion or Dipterex Powder in the affected filed will help in controlling adult fly.

Iii) Use of bait traps prepared from protein hydrolyzate @ 450 gm, Malathion or Dipterex water dispersible powder (25 %) @ 450 gm and water @ 1 gallon is most effective of controlling of this pest.