The melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is distributed widely in the country and it has been reported to damage 81 host plants and is a major pest of cucurbitaceous vegetables, particularly the bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), muskmelon (Cucumis melo), snap melon (C. melo var. momordica), and snake gourd (Trichosanthes anguina). The extent of losses varies between 30 to 100%, depending on the cucurbit species and the season. Its abundance increases when the temperatures fall below 32 °C, and the relative humidity ranges between 60 to 70%. It prefers to infest young, green, soft-skinned fruits. Keeping in view the importance of the pest and crop, KVK-Khowai has demonstrated and assessed a technology with pheromone traps to keep the population below economic threshold level and found effective to minimize pesticides use, improve the quality of crop and to get good yield.
Ardhendu Chakraborty*
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Khowai, Tripura (799 207), India
Mukesh Sehgal
ICAR- National Centre for Integrated Pest Management (NCIPM), New Delhi, Delhi (110 012), India
Subhash Chander
Manoj Singh Sachan
Subhra Shil
Dipankar Dey
Meenakshi Malik
Chakraborty, A., Sehgal, M., Chander, S., Sachan, M.S., Shil, S., Dey, D., Malik, M., 2021. Eco-Friendly Management of Fruit Fly in Bittergourd in Tripura – A Success Story. Biotica Research Today 3(3), 195-196.