ROLE OF MANGO BUD MITE ACERIA MANGIFERAE SAYED IN MANGO MALFORMATION

Mango malformation has become a national problem by inflicting severe losses to mango production. The malady is so far not understood from view point of its causes and thereby its control or prevention are not known. With our present knowledge, only two possible causal organisms seem to be associated with mango malformation. One is a mite and the other is a fungus.

Taking into consideration the close association of the mite with mango bud, some preliminary trials were conducted. One-year old malformed saplings, containing mites were pruned, leaving single malformed bud and these were treated with 0.1 per cent diazinon emulsion at a month's interval to keep the saplings mite-free. As a result of the treatment malformed bud developed normally and the seedlings are still healthy even after fifteen months.

In an other experiment nine mature mango trees with varying degree of floral malformation were subjected to following separate treatments: (a) no treatment, (b) pruning, (c) pruning and 0.1 per cent diazinon spraying. The last treatment gave the lowest degree of malformation (16–35 per cent) as compared with the untreated trees (72–83 per cent).