Mango stem borer: Batocera rufomaculata
Symptoms of damage:
- Grub tunnels in the sapwood on the trunk or branches
- Grub bore into the sap wood and macking irregular tunnels.
- Feeding the vascular tissues
- interruption of nutrient and water transport on the tissue
- Drying of terminal shoot in early stage
- Frass comes out from several points and some times sap oozes out of the holes
- Wilting of branches or entire tree.
Identification of pest
-
- Grub – Linear, fleshy, apodous
- Adult – Grayish beetle with two pink dots and lateral spine
Management
-
- Remove and destroy dead and severely affected branches of the tree
- Remove alternate host, silk cotton, and other hosts
- Grow tolerant mango varieties viz., Neelam, Humayudin.
- Swab Coal tar + Kerosene @ 1:2 or Carbaryl 50 WP 20 g / l ( a basal portion of the trunk – 3 feet height) after scraping the loose bark to prevent oviposition by adult beetles.
- If infestations are severe then apply the copper oxychloride paste on the trunk of the tree.
- One celphos tablet (3 g aluminum phosphide) per hole
- Apply carbofuran 3G 5 g per hole and plug with mud.
Source-
- TamilNadu Agritech Portal
