The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) has started the procurement of 'fruit fly traps' for management of fruit fly in mango, citrus and guava orchards of over 15,000 acres of land under its three-year project: 'management of fruit fly with special reference to non-conventional methods.'
The three-year project will be carried out at the cost of Rs 227 million. During the last financial year, the department had provided fruit fly traps to orchards spreading over 16,500 acres of land in the province, sources in the agriculture department told Business Recorder on Saturday.
More than 20 fruits are grown on a commercial basis in Punjab, albeit, mango, citrus and guava have a significant share and their area is more than 82 percent of the total area under fruit crops.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of fruit fly is said to be essential to ensuring access for Pakistani fruits to overseas markets.
The per unit area production of mango, citrus and guava in Punjab is low compared to other competitive countries and the export share of these fruits are also minimal due to improper management of insect pests, especially fruit fly, while there is a great scope to enhance both production and export.
Citrus, mango and guava fruit crops occupy first, second and third positions respectively with respect to area and production in Punjab. The fruit fly attack is frequently observed in all three fruit crops; however, guava is a favourite crop for the fruit fly. All out efforts will be made to minimise the infestation of fruit in the project districts. The infestation will be tackled by adopting male and female controlling techniques along with crop sanitation.
Source: brecorder.com
