By Manoj Pathak

Patna, Apr 13 (IANS): Due to continuous change in the weather of Bihar, farmers are worried a lot this year as their mango crops were hit by a disease caused by red banded caterpillar. Farmers say, due to the prolonged period of moisture in the air, there has been an outbreak of the disease on the mango crops. Young fruits are particularly susceptible as fungi invade them and make the fruit rot. Sticky liquid exudes from the larval entry hole, dribbles down the fruit as a dark stain and collects at the base due to which cracks appear on the fruits at the entry hole destroy the crops.

When the flowering turned into young fruits, red banded mango caterpillar start appearing, spoiling the fruits completely.

Rampravesh Singh, a mango farmer from Bhagalpur, says red banded caterpillar pests are sucking the juice of fruits including new branches of mango trees, due to which the flowering dries up.

Agricultural scientists say that caterpillars are leaving a sticky honey-like substance which hinder the process of photosynthesis in the plant.

Suresh Kumar Rai, a farmer, says that this year, during the time of flowering of trees, dark stains on the sides of the fruit are formed from liquid oozing out of the entry sites made by the larvae of the red-banded mango caterpillar.

Dr. Mukesh Singh, the horticultural scientist of Central Agricultural University, Pusa, told IANS that this time the frequent change in weather in Bihar for most of the time led to moisture content in the air. He said the moisture was high due to which the outbreak of the disease took place.

He said, this year the problem of red banded caterpillar cropped up in many areas including Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Samastipur and some other districts. He said this was not there till a few years ago. Last year, this problem was seen in some areas of Darbhanga district only. He said that the red banded caterpillar kills the young fruits.

He said the only way to deal with the situation is that farmers should remove the red banded caterpillar or burn them so that the rest of the crops can be saved to some extent.

Singh also said that mango farmers should avoid spraying the medicine. The drug should be sprayed only when needed. He said medicine is sprayed even before the flowering begins, which should be avoided.