Cashew varietal screening for resistance against tea mosquito bug, Helopeltis antoni Sign

Abstract

In cashew one of the reasons attributed to the drastic decline in production is the occurrence of tea mosquito bug (TMB), Helopeltis antonii Sign. which causes yield loss upto 40 to 50 per cent and in some situations 100 per cent reduction in yield in coastal region. Integrated pest management involving resistance and adopting spraying of insecticides is a good package to manage this pest and reduce the insecticidal applications. With this background varietal screening of cashew cultivars to tea mosquito bug was taken up at Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, Ullal. The variety Ullal-1 recorded lowest TMB damage (61.85%) followed by C.R.S-1(69.10%). Whereas the maximum per cent damage was recorded in Hy.40 MOZ*1/63(98.90%), 3/111 Gubbi (98.40%), 4/6 Madhuranthakam (97.55%) and Local Puttur (97.10%). However, none of the yielding cultivars has shown resistant reactions to TMB infestation.