Current scenario of insect pests on jackfruit in Tamil Nadu

Studies on the seasonal incidence of pests and natural enemies in different Jackfruit cultivars revealed the presence of various pests and predators in the Jackfruit ecosystem. The major pests identified included the fruit and shoot borer (SFB), stem borer, mealybug, whitefly, spittle bug, bud weevil and fruit fly. At the same time, predatory coccinellid beetles were the key natural enemies. The fruit and shoot borer (8.92%), stem borer (0.21%), mealybugs (1.48%), bud weevil (19.28%) and whiteflies (17.78%) were less in Muttam varikkai followed by Palur 1- SFB (27.57%), stem borer (1.35%), mealybug (1.14%), whiteflies (18.21%) and bud weevil (17.92%). The Jackfruit cultivar, Muthandikuppam, was found to be more susceptible to insect pests, which recorded SFB (37.85%), mealybugs (2.42%), whitefly (35.50%) and bud weevil (26.42%). The chrysopa and coccinellids population was high in AH2 Muthandikuppam (4.00 and 17.68/tree) followed by AH15 Muthandikuppam (3.21 and 17.17/tree). Comparatively, the spiders were found high in Pechiparai 1 (11.78/tree), but in AH2 Muthandikuppam it was 7.35 per tree. The SFB, stem borer, mealybugs, whiteflies and bud weevil were more during hot weather and were positively correlated with maximum and minimum temperature. In contrast, they are negatively correlated with other weather parameters, viz., rainfall, wind speed and relative humidity. The SFB incidence was recorded as high during maximum temperature (0.479) with high wind speed (0.502) and minimum temperature (0.577). The population of coccinellids beetles increased with maximum temperature (0.71), minimum temperature (0.706), high wind speed (0.312) and relative humidity (0.514).