Rhizome weevil: Cosmopolites sordidus
Symptoms of damage:
- Grubs bore into the rhizome and cause death of the plant
- Presence of dark coloured tunnels in the rhizomes.
- Death of unopened pipe, withering of outer leaves.
Identification of pest:
- Eggs: Laid singly, white in colour present on the upper part of rhizome
- Grub: Apodous, yellowish white with red head
- Pupa: white in colour, occur in inside the corm and tunnelling
- Adult: Dark weevil, newly emerged weevil is red brown
Management:
- Select healthy sucker and plant
- Do not take regular crop in the same field to avoid initial infestation
- Ensure clean cultivation
- Removal of pseudo stems below ground level
- Trimming the rhizome
- Avoid growing Robusta, Karpooruvally, Malbhog, Champa and Adukkar
- Grow less susceptible varieties like Poovan, Kadali, Kunnan, Poomkalli
- Use cosmolure trap at 5/ha.
Banana corm split trap
- Trap adult weevils with pseudostem chopped into small pieces
- kept near infested clump at 65/ha.
- Soil incorporation at the time of planting: carbofuran 3 G 10g, phorate 10 G 5 g/plant.
- Before planting, the suckers should be dipped in 0.1 per cent quinalphos emulsion.
- Apply castor cake 250g or carbaryl 50g dust or phorate 10g per pit before planting also prevents infestation
- Severe attack dimethoate, methyl demeton may be sprayed around the collar region.
Source-
- TamilNadu Agritech Portal
