Pest – Fruit Borer
Scientific name – Helicoverpa armigera
Identification of insect – Fruit borer is one of the serious pest of tomato. It is polyphagous pest.
The moth of this insect is of medium size yellowish brown in colour. The caterpillars are light yellow in colour & there are light yellow stripes on both sides on the dorsal part of the body.
Damages – This pest damages the tomato crop from fruit formation till the last harvest.
Fruit borer of tomato can attacks the crop anytime throughout the year. The caterpillar of this pest pierces the fruit and eats the pulp of the fruit. These caterpillar are seen hanging halfway out of the fruit.
The holes made on the fruits are round and only the upper part inside the hole is eaten by these pests. One larva can damage many fruits.
These caterpillars damage the leaves as well as the fruits.
The fruit on which this caterpillar bores, there is an outbreak of mildew on it and the fruit rots completely. Such damaged tomatoes are not edible
Control – For the management of fruit borer, apply profenophos @ 1 ml/litre or chlorpyriphos @ 2 ml or cypermethrin 10EC @ 1 ml per litre of water.
Spray Indoxacarb 14.5 SC, 500 ml by mixing it in 800 litres of water per hectare.
Management –
- Deep ploughing of field should be done in summer.
- Collect and destroy the fruits infected by this pest.
- To monitor this pest, install 20 pheromone traps per hectare.
- Spray the nursery soil with copper oxychloride solution 2-3 weeks after sowing.
