ECO-FRIENDLY MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT FLY INFESTING CUCUMBER

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in the research field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from October 2021 to January 2022 to evaluate eco-friendly management of fruit fly infesting cucumber. There were several insect pests in the cucumber field that could bring about a significant impact on the yield and quality of the cucumber itself and among them, fruit fly is the most prevalent and harmful. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated 3 times. For this study, 8 treatments were used and these were T 1 : using Pheromone trap @1 trap/plot/2 weeks; T 2 : using Poison bait trap @ 1 trap/plot; T 3 : using Pheromone trap @1 trap/plot/2 weeks + Using Poison bait trap @ 1 trap/plot; T 4 : spraying Neem oil @ 3ml/L of water at 7 days interval; T 5 : spraying garlic extract @ 3ml/L of water at 7 days interval; T 6 : spraying Neem seed kenrnel extract @ 3g/L of water at 7 days interval; T 7 : using Pheromone trap @1 trap/plot/2 weeks + Spraying Neem oil @ 3ml/L of water at 7 days interval; T 8 : untreated control. Local variety ‘Baromashi’ was used as the experimental material. The lowest fruit infestation by number at early, mid & late fruiting stage, fruit infestation by weight at early, mid & late fruiting stage were recorded (12.50%, 14.29%, 16.67%, 11.25%, 5.35%, 17.96%, respectively) in T 7 treatment. Again, the highest edible portion of infested fruit at early, mid & late fruiting stage, single fruit weight, length of healthy fruit, length of infested fruit, and yield were recorded (53.37%, 58.98%, 62.89%, 136.56g, 19.89cm, 15.31cm, and 15.56 t/ha, respectively) in T 7 treatment. From the study it was revealed that, pheromone trap along with spraying neem oil substantially reduced maximum fruit fly infestation in cucumber at field condition.