Sustainable Approaches For Fruit Fly Management In Bitter Gourd Cultivation

Fruit and vegetable commodities suffer significant losses in the field and after harvest due to fruit fly infestations. Adult female flies lay eggs inside mature fruits and vegetables make unfit for human consumption or marketing. A field experiment (UPA research) was conducted during the kharif season of 2022 to document the eco-friendly management of fruit flies (Bactrocera cucurbitae) on the bitter gourd Momordica charantia at Gokuleshwor, Baitadi. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 7 treatments, i.e., Bacillus thuringiensis, Neem cake, yellow sticky trap, Chlorpyriphos 50%+ Cypermethrin 5% EC, Jhol-mol, and Beauveria bassiana. The treatments were replicated three times, accommodating four plants in each plot, and the variety used was a Palee F1 hybrid. The treatment was applied as a first and second spray and data collection was done on 3rd,6th,9th and 12thdays after each spray. The treatment Chlorpyriphos 50% EC + Cypermethrin 5% EC was the most effective, resulting in a minimum fruit infestation of 1.87%, followed by Bacillus thuringiensis 3.46%, which was at par in terms of reducing fruit infestation. Also, the number of fruit flies per plot was significantly low in Chlorpyriphos 50% EC and Cypermethrin 5% EC, i.e., 0.66, followed by Bacillus thuringiensis., 1.00, which were statistically at par with each other. Even though chlorpyriphos 50% and Cypermethrin 5% EC gave the best production as well as less infestation of fruit flies, they are persistence, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification in nature. So, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which was on par with Chlorpyriphos 50% EC and Cypermethrin 5% EC, became most effective and economical for controlling the fruit flies on bitter gourd fruits that were easily available in our local market and easy to use and had no adverse effect on the environment or human health.