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Banana

Rhizome weevil

Symptoms of damage

Grubs bore into the rhizome and cause death of the plant

Presence of dark coloured tunnels in the rhizomes.

Death of unopened pipe, withering of outer leaves.

Identification of pest

Eggs: laid singly, white in colour present on the upper part of rhizome

Grub: Apodous, yellowish white with red head

Pupa: white in colour, occur in inside the corm and tunneling

Adult: Dark weevil, newly emerged weevil is red brown

Larva

Pupa

Adult

Management

Select healthy sucker and plant

Do not take regular crop in the same field to avoid initial infestation

Ensure clean cultivation

Removal of pseudo stems below ground level

Trimming the rhizome

Avoid growing Robusta, Karpooruvally, Malbhog, Champa and Adukkar

Grow less susceptible varieties like Poovan, Kadali, Kunnan, Poomkalli

Use cosmolure trap at 5/ha

Banana corm split trap

Trap adult weevils with pseudostem chopped into small pieces

kept near infested clump at 65/ha.

Soil incorporation at the time of planting: carbofuran 3 G 10g, phorate 10 G 5 g/plant.

Before planting, the suckers should be dipped in 0.1 per cent quinalphos emulsion.

Apply castor cake 250g or carbaryl 50g dust or phorate 10g per pit before planting also prevents infestation

Severe attack dimethoate, methyl demeton may be sprayed around the collar region.

Pseudostem borer

Symptoms of damage

Grub bore into pseudostem making tunnels

Cutting holes on outer surface

Exudation of plant sap-initial symptom and blackened mass comes out from the bore hole

Tunneled part decomposes and pseudostem wilts.

Identification of pest

Eggs: Laid at random on cut ends of pseudostem, yellowish-white, cylindrical in shape

Grub: Apodous, creamy white with dark brown head

Pupa: Pale yellow colour, fibrous cocoon formed inside the tunneling on the periphery

Adult: Robust, reddish brown and black weevil

Egg

Larva

Pupa

Adult

Management

Remove dried leaves periodically and keep the field clean

Prune the side suckers every month

Use healthy and pest free suckers to check the pest incidence

Do not dump infested materials into manure pit

Uproot infested trees, chop into pieces and burn

Use longitudinally split pseudostem trap at 65/ha

Banana Aphid

Symptoms of damage

Leaves are bunched into a rosette appearance, stunted growth and leaf margins are wavy with upward rolling

Do not produce bunches

Vector of bunchy top disease

Seen in colonies on leaf axils and pseudostem

Identification of pest

Nymphs: Are dark in colour

Adult: Brownish and has black veined wings

Nymph

Adult

Management

Ensure clean cultivation

Use healthy and pest free suckers to check the pest incidence

Destroy diseased plants with rhizome

Spray methyl demeton 25 EC 0.05%

Encourage activity of predators like Scymnus, Chilomenes sexmaculatus, Chrysoperla carnea and other coccinellids

Use Beauveria bassiana

Tingid or Lace wing bug

Symptoms of damage

Grubs bore into the rhizome and cause death of the plant

Presence of dark coloured tunnels in the rhizomes.

Death of unopened pipe, withering of outer leaves.

Yellowish spots on leaves

Adult

Leaf Spot

Identification of pest

Nymphs: Yellow colour nymphs found on the under surface

Adult: Yellow colour with minute fringed wings, seen under surface of leaves

Management

Collect and destroy the damaged leaves, flowers and fruits along with life stages

Use yellow sticky trap at 15/ha

Spraying dimethoate 30 EC 850 ml/ha

Spray methyl demeton 25 EC 2ml/lit

Spray carbendazim 3g/ litre of water Application of press mud at 5 kg per tree reduces the wilt incidence

Hard scale

Symptoms of damage

Grubs bore into the rhizome and cause death of the plant

Presence of dark coloured tunnels in the rhizomes.

Death of unopened pipe, withering of outer leaves.

Banana scale

Banana scale

Adult and crawlers

Identification of pest

Nymph: Oval translucent, Yellowish brown with waxy coating

Adult: Female circular, semi transparent and pale brown

Management

Collect and destroy the affected plant parts

Apply carbofuran 3G 5 g per hole and plug with mud.

Fruit rust thrips

Symptoms of damage

Rusty reddish discolouration on the fingers

Yellowing of leaves and rusty growth over fruit

Red rusty spots on fruits

Red rusty streaks on fruit skin

Fruit cracking

Yellowing of leaves

Identification of pest

Eggs: Eggs are laid either at stem or undersurface of the fruit

Larvae: Are wingless, whitish in colour resembling adult lice

Adult: Yellowish white with shaded wing.

Egg

Larva

Pupa

Thrips

Management

Destroy all volunteer plants and old neglected plantations

Use healthy and pest free suckers for planting

Hot water treatment prior to planting.

Bunch covers (which cover the full length of the bunch) protection applied very early.

Regular checking of fruit under the bunch covers is essential to ensure that damage

Bunches, pseudostem and the suckers should be sprayed chlorpyrifos

Soil application fipronil and bifenthrin

Field release of coccinelid predators like lacewings, ladybird beetles

Castor hairy caterpillar

Symptoms of damage

Caterpillar scraping the chlorophyll content and windowing in unfurled leaves.

Identification of pest

Larva: Black with brown head having long brown hairs

Adult: Grey coloured with dark spots on the pinkish hind wings

Management

Collect and destroy egg masses and caterpillars

Use burning torch to kill the congregating larvae

Use light trap to attract and kill the adults

Spray chlorpyriphos 20 EC or quinalphos 25 EC 2ml/lit

Pericallia ricini

Cut worm

Symptoms of damage

Young larvae feed by scrapping the leaves from ventral surface

Later on feed voraciously at night on the foliage.

Identification of pest

Larva: Pale greenish or brown with dark marking

Adult: Yellow and purplish spots in the sub marginal areas. Fore wings have wavy white markings, hind wings are whitish with brown patch along the margin.

Scrabbing of larvae

Scrabbing of larvae

Larva

Larva

Management

Hand pick and destroy the caterpillar

Collect and destroy the damaged plant parts

Summer ploughing to expose to the pupae

Use light trap

Spray azinphosethyl or chlorphyriphos

In severe infestation applyBacillus thuringenesis

Foliar spray with avanthe 1 ml in 100 ml of water

Field release of egg parasitoid such as Telenomus spodopterae and Telenomus remus

Field release of entomopathogenic fungus Nomuraea rileyi