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Scientists have stressed the need to control the menace of Rugose Spiraling Whitefly (Aleurodicus rugioperculatus) in coconut plantations with the help of parasitoids. They have strongly opposed the use of insecticides to control the menace.
Speaking at an awareness programme, which was jointly organised by the Krishi Vijana Kendra and Horticulture Department in Mangaluru on Tuesday, K Selvaraj, Scientist (entomology) of the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, said that the infestation of Rugose Spiraling Whitefly has been recorded in coconut and banana plantations in southern India.
Urging farmers to avoid the spraying of insecticides to control Rugose Spiraling Whitefly, he said any such move may affect parasitoids, the natural enemies of the whitefly. The whitefly menace in coconut plantations was recorded for the first time in central America in 2004. In India, it was first reported from Tamil Nadu in 2016.
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