Sushmita Sharma^1,2*, Sundar Tiwari¹ , Debraj Adhikari^1,3 and Bhola Gautam^1
1Agriculture and Forestry University,² iDE Nepal, ³Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Centre, Nepal *Corresponding author's email: sushmitasharma533@gmail.com

Abstract

Sweet orange is considered a high value crop in the mid-hill of Nepal. Insect pests and diseases are the major yield limiting factors in sweet orange orchard, Chinese citrus fly (CCF) being the most considerable pest in eastern to western hills of Nepal. This study aimed to examine the efficiency of the Area Wide Control Program (AWCP) by monitoring the pupal severity in the sweet orange orchards in Sindhuli district in 2021. Pupal density in different level of CCF infested sweet orange orchards (0-20%, 21-40%, 41-60%, 61-80% and 81-100%) were counted at 3 different depths of soil (0.0-5.0 cm, 5.1-10.0 cm and 10.1-15.0 cm). Five sweet orange orchards were selected in each infestation level and pupae were counted per square meter in 5 different sweet orange orchards. Maximum numbers of pupae (19) were recorded in 81-100% infested orchard followed by 61-80% infested orchard (17). Similarly, highest number of pupa (17) was counted at 5.1-10.0 cm depth around the tree canopy. Lowest numbers of pupae (1) were counted in 21-40% infestation level at 10.0-15.0 cm depth of soil (P < 0.001). Orchard with proper sanitation had 29.62% less pupa population compared to non-cleaned orchard with same level infestation. AWCP adopted orchard by spraying Great Fruit fly Bait (25% protein hydrolysate and 0.1% abamectin) had four times lesser pupal population compared to non-AWCP adopted orchard. The study shows that adoption of AWCP management strategy with proper sanitation in the orchard is effective to reduce population of Chinese citrus fly.