Mites (red spider and Broad mites

Use of yellow cards

Management

• Install yellow sticky traps before planting to monitor the movement of adult aphids • Use reflective mulches to repel aphids • Make the field weed free. • Spray insecticides with thiamethoxam, acetamiprid.

Rotate classes of insecticides to minimize resistance of aphids to insecticides.

3. Broad mites ( Polyphagotarsonemus latus )

Mites are invisible with naked eye. Mites suck the sap by biting the underside of the leaves. First symptoms appear on young leaves and on terminal buds.

Broad Mites White to yellow speckles on upper leaf surface

Symptoms and Damage

• Young and adult mites feed undersides of the leaves, bud and fruit. Suck sap from plant parts causing downward cupping of leaves, which are narrower than normal leaves. They appear crablike and are yellow or white. • Formation of white to yellow speckles on the upper surface of the leaves due mites feeding. • Young leaves turn narrow, twisted, fail to elongate and finally wilt and dry • Attacked fruits become deformed and fail to develop. • Infestation increased with increased temperature coupled with high humidity.

Damage on Fruit Damage on flowers

Management

• Favour sprinkling irrigation on leaves • Install wind breaks around the field • Remove the pest damaged plant parts • Apply specific and preventive miticides/pesticides containing abamectin. • Apply wetable sulphur (don’t apply sulphur during period of warm weather or don’t follow application of sulphur within 2weeks of an oil spray, and should not be applied to crops at flowering and harvesting stage).