Effectiveness of some mechanical and cultural methods for suppressing fruit fly in cucumber

Abstract

Abstract : To evaluate the effectiveness of some mechanical and cultural methods for suppressing fruit fly Bactrocera cucurbitae on cucumber a trial was conducted at BSMRAU experimental farm. Cultural control constituting field sanitation and mechanical control by hand picking of infested fruits were considered as treatments and evaluated with a standard insecticide in a replicated field plot of cucumber. Among the non-chemical control tactics, the mechanical control was found effective in reducing fruit fly infestation by number (9.48%), by weight (3.89%) and by weight reduction per fruit (34.36%) which were not significantly different from those obtained in malathion sprayed treatment.