Agriculture experts zero in on natural parasite to combat Papaya mealy bug

DS Pokharkar,entomologist,biological control project,College of Agriculture,said,“We conducted extensive surveys of Papaya orchards in Pune,Satara,Sangli,Kolhapur and parts of the Dhule district for about two months. The incidence of mealy bug was noticed mainly in the Pune region. On August 23,we noticed the presence of the natural parasite in the orchards of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s regional station in Baner,Pune. The parasite feeds on the mealy bug pest and destroys it.” The challenge now lies in the mass production of the parasite and distributing it to the farmers,and stopping them from using chemical pesticides that kill the natural parasite and the use of pesticides also has long term health hazards for the consumers.

Shamrao Sawant Inamdar,a farmer from Urulikanchan said,“We have had fruit orchards for the last 50- 60 years in our family. But this is something we are noticing for the first time. Of the 200 papaya trees that I have,about 30 per cent of them have been destroyed. But my tomato and sugarcane crop has not been affected by it.”

Experts are of the opinion that mealy bug is also a potential danger to other plants including mulbery,brinjal,okra,cotton and 55 other host plants. While in India,the spread has so far been only in Papaya,in Sri Lanka,it was also noticed in tomato,okra,tapioca,teak and mulbery. RJ Rabindra,director,NBAII,said,“On the request from the Indian Department of Agriculture,their US counterpart agreed to send three species of the natural parasites. We have quarantined them and have found that they attack only the mealy bug pest. As soon as we get the release permit from the Department of Agriculture,we will give them out to the farmers.” He later added that a national consultation will be held in Bangalore on September 20 for the conservation of the parasite and for chalking out programmes to create awareness against the use of chemical pesticides in the mealy bug infested fields. In Sri Lanka the natural parasites controlled the mealy bug with almost 95-100 per cent results within six months,said Rabindra.