Management of litchi fruit and shoot borer, Conopomorpha sinensis using organic pesticides

To evaluate the efficacy of various organic pesticides against litchi fruit and shoot borer in ‘Shahi’, a field trial was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with six treatments viz., T₁ – Rovin (1.25 mL L^‑1); T₂ – Fungole (1.5 g + neem oil 3 mL L^‑1); T₃ – Krimidote (3 mL L^‑1); T₄ – Bio dose (1.25 mL L^‑1); T₅ – neem oil (4 mL L^‑1); T₆ – control (without spray) with three replicates. The recommended agricultural practices i.e., preparation of the land, irrigation, fertilizer application, canopy management, etc., were applied in all the treatments including control. Four sprays at the different intervals after fruit attaining clove size were applied and the last spray was applied before 10 days of fruit harvest. Among the various organic pesticides, Rovin (1.25 mL L^‑1) was found to be the most effective with 4.72% fruit infestation at harvest stage against 83.22% in control followed by Fungole (1.5 g + neem oil 3 mL L^‑1) which registered 21.69% fruit infestation. The highest reduction percent over control (95.79%) of litchi fruit borer was also recorded in Rovin followed by Fungole + neem oil (81.00%) at mid stage. Krimidote and Bio dose failed to regulate the borer population at a pleasing level. The highest healthy fruit (47.50 kg tree^‑1) was recorded with Rovin followed by Fungole + neem oil (40.10 kg tree^‑1), neem oil (38.20 kg tree^‑1), Krimidote (30.50 kg tree^‑1) and Bio dose (29.40 kg tree^‑1) against lowest (16.00 kg tree^‑1) in control.