Management of mango shoot gall psylla, Apsylla Cistellata Buckton Through Farmers’ Participatory Approach

Field experiments were conducted in three varieties of mango on management of shoot gall psylla, Apsylla cistellata Buckton (Psyllidae: Homoptera) through farmers participatory approach in Shivalik Hills of Dehradun, Uttarakhand during 2011 to 2014. It was found during baseline survey in December, 2011 that all the varieties namely, Dashahri, Langra and Chausa were severely affected with shoot gall psylla. The results during 2012–13 in Dashahri revealed that two applications of thiamethoxam 1 gm per liter of water + profenophos 2 ml per liter of water during second fortnight of August at 15 days interval proved to be most effective. The number of galls was very low in this treatment i.e. 4.02 per 10 twigs and also maximum yield (267.17 Q/ha) recorded during 2013 which also significantly higher. Two applications of above insecticides were done in August, 2013 on 2100 mango trees (three varieties of mango) which gave tremendous impact on management of shoot gall psylla and increased the yield significantly. A total of Rs. 42, 66, 058.80 net income was earned by the farmers of Badwala village from their 2100 mango trees. This technological intervention against most devastating pest of mango have completely changed the mindset of neighbouring farmers due to which farmers applied two round sprays during August, 2014 in about 200 ha area. The data recorded in December, 2014 to observe the incidence of shoot gall psylla indicated that both insecticides gave remarkable impact on management of shoot gall psylla.