Vidarbha region has a total of 150,000 hectares of land under orange crop, out of which 25% of the land is severely affected and damaged by Kolshi which is a Black Fly Disease.
Kolshi is a disease mainly caused by a black fly called Aleurocanthus woglumi. When the pest attacks the crops, it secretes a liquid that covers the fruits as well as the leaves. This liquid gradually turns black. When a farmer tries to spray insecticides on the tree and the fruits it does not help to cure this disease as the liquid cannot penetrate the black layer due to moisture on the plant.
Kolshi was introduced in Vidarbha during the last rainy season, due to heavy rains especially from July to September. It seems that 75% of the farmers could manage the disease as their soil was light and they followed proper management practices. Unfortunately, 25% of them could not, resulting in very bad fruit quality.
One farmer from Kalmeshwar said: “I produce 45 tons of oranges from 325 trees. Half of them are very severely affected by the black fly disease due to which I suffered a loss of almost Rs 250,000.”
Source: thelivenagpur.com