Mango is one of the most prominent fruit crops in India and brings enormous commercial success to India. With that reputation, it has also been exported to other countries with high demand.
However, the mango fruits get infected by the fruit flies, damaging the fruit from the inside, and all of this happens during the stage where the fruit is in development and ripening.
Due to these effects, farmers lose yield up to 30%, and if the damage is severe in effect, it might affect upto 100% of crop loss, so farmers make sure that the population of fruit flies is not high in numbers.
Mango is known for its sweetness, and if that taste is gone due to being affected by the fruit flies, then the real quality won’t bring any reasonable price and demand in the market, which turns into an economic loss for farmers.
As these fruits are also exported outside India, they get checked before sending them out, and if the fruits are found infected with the flies, then the whole batch of mangoes will not get exported, which is even more loss.
Therefore, farmers are always careful on checking the mangoes to see if they are not infected before exporting the fruits and do the very best of them to keep the fruit flies away from the crops.
Symptoms of Fruit Flies:
The mature female fruit flies inject the fruits and put their eggs in the inner tissue of developed fruits. After hatching, the yellow caterpillars begin their feeding on the internal pulp of the mango, consequently causing the rotting of fruits.
It is also possible to find black spots/holes on the fruits that are affected. Because of this infection, the fruits will grow prematurely, or the fruits that are infected may rust and fall on the ground.
Farmers can even locate a viscous substance on the affected fruits due to internal feeding and digestion of these caterpillars after the exit holes of the caterpillars get visible to the surface of the fruits that are affected by it.
The Causes:
The fruit flies will enter the fruit and will stay in it to finish their life cycle to emerge in their true form to infect the fruit and to harvest even more on it.
The existence of plants that are most influenced by fruit flies like watermelon, guava, papaya, etc., on your blossom orchard.
Considering that the fruit flies will strike the crops to harvest, especially during fruit growth, the late-maturing types tend to be infected with the many because of the sequential and much more life cycle of fruit flies.
Farmers have a better understanding of how to be smart about taking all the necessary preventive measures to keep their crops safe.
Agricultural machinery in India has been one of the most valuable products that have helped farmers keep their crops safe from infections and organisms.
Especially the Spraying machines, as sprayers in horticulture farming, play a significant role in the eye of farmers because horticulture serves fruits, which has more demand in India and around the world for its taste, qualities, and much more.
So, let’s note down some preventive measures:
Collect all the fallen fruits and remove them from the surface before the fruit flies enter and destroy all of them.
If you have any crops growing in the mango orchard or any other orchard infested with fruit flies, avoid harvesting them.
Destroy or remove harmful organisms/weeds from the mango orchard to keep the hygiene of the place neat, so the fallen fruits can stay out of being infected.
Cultivate the soil upto 10 cm to expose the fruit flies to Sun, which can ultimately kill them to stop the Additional infestation.
Grow the mango fruits as per its life growth cycle and make sure it matures and ripens in time to be sold in the market for its actual price.
Management:
To handle this critical pest, farmers must take precautionary steps to avoid the infection. The farmers must consume integrated pest control approaches like following all of the preventative measures mentioned above.
These preventive measures will help farmers keep the fruits/crops from getting affected and infected by the fruit flies.
There are also other ways to handle these situations of fruit flies by using biological measures or methods and spraying techniques.
Setting up traps for the fruit flies in the fruit orchards during the whole growth life cycle and harvesting the fruits by adding pheromone substance might help trap these flies before they can harm and infect the crops.
Spraying techniques can also be a better option to protect the fruits from fruit flies. Spraying necessary insecticides with the help of sprayers like tractor mounted boom sprayers can help.
Final Words:
Horticulture Farming is one of the most in-demand farming systems due to its varieties of fruits and quality. Losing these fruits due to infection and harmful substances can create a huge impact on the economic side of the farmers, which they cannot bear.
Vineyards, Mango orchards are the fruits that are high in priority and make sure they grow with their full life cycle, and harvest properly.
We at Mitra, as farmers, have a better understanding as we also do the same to protect our crops/fruits. We’re famous for our Spraying machines, such as the orchard air blast sprayer, tractor-mounted boom sprayer, and many more.
Spraying machinery is also high in demand. The orchard airblast or tractor-mounted boom sprayers prices might vary high in numbers, so if you have any queries related to the topic or anything related to Spraying machines, contact us.
