Debraj Adhikari1 , Resham Bahadur Thapa1 , Samudra Lal Joshi2 , Jason Jinping Du3
and Umesh Kumar Acharya2
1 Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal
2 Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal
3 Beijing Ecoman Biotech Co. Ltd., China
Corresponding author's e-mail: adhikari.debraj@gmail.com
Abstract
Citrus is an important fruit commodity in the mid-hills of Nepal. Fruit flies are the most important pests in the horticultural fruits of tree and vegetable origins. These days, among fruit flies, Chinese citrus fly (CCF), Bactroceraminax is becoming an important economic pest of citrus in Nepal. It was first reported in 2007 in sweet orange at Paripatle, Dhankuta, one of the eastern citrus growing hilly districts of Nepal. However, CCF is seemed to be extending to central and western hilly citrus orchards. It invaded economically for the first time in sweet oranges in the Sindhuli citrus orchards in 2014 resulting in 17 % fruit losses that increased to 35 % in 2018. The formalizing of Area-Wide Control Program (AWCP), in 2019, for the first time, for CCF management reduced its fruit loss rampages to the never-ever recorded lowest level, 15 %. AWCP along with technically proper understanding of its different stages in life-cycle, behavior in each stage and a proper AWCP managerial implementation made the entire CCF managing program a success.
Keywords: AWCP, Fruit fly, Fruit loss, Sweet orange, Sindhuli