Integrated Management of Melon Fruit Fly in Bitter Gourd

The production and productivity of bitter-gourd is severely damaged by melon fruit-fly. Since, its maggots damage the fruits internally; its chemical control is difficult. It is, therefore, imperative to explore alternatives and develop IPM strategy for the effective management of this pest. This book provides the readers with knowledge of various IPM strategies which can be used effectively for its management. The contents of this book consist of lab and field experiments which were carried out to evaluate different botanicals, food-baits, pheromones-baits-traps, oviposition-baits, insecticide-baited-foods/pheromones and cultural- control-tactics against melon fruit-fly in bitter- gourd. Highly effective of above mentioned tactics were integrated into 8 IPM-Models, which were evaluated at two localities. The results revealed that the descending order of the performance of tested IPM-Models was: IPM-Model-7 IPM-Model-3 IPM-Model-6 IPM-Model-4 IPM-Model-5 IPM-Model- 2 IPM-Model-1 IPM-Model-8. In conclusion, IPM- Model-3, IPM-Model-4, IPM-Model-5, IPM-Model-6 and IPM-Model-7 can be exercised in the areas where there are hot spots of melon fruit flies.