Validation of Integrated Pest Management Strategies for Leaf Hopper and Thrips in Mango

Integrated pest management (IPM) modules were evaluated for controlling mango hoppers and thrips in the cultivar Imam Pasand under farmers’ field conditions in Bannihalli village, Dharmapuri district, during 2025–2026. A randomised block design comprised three treatments, each replicated seven times. Module T1 combined neem cake, blue sticky traps, azadirachtin, Beauveria bassiana and spinosad. Module T2 combined neem cake, blue sticky traps, azadirachtin, Verticillium or Lecanicillium lecanii, and tolfenpyrad, whereas Module T3 represented the farmer’s practice of imidacloprid spraying. Hopper and thrips abundance was recorded before and after spraying, alongside thrips-associated fruit damage, sticky-trap catches, fruit yield and the benefit–cost ratio. The lowest mean thrips and hopper counts were recorded under Module T2 (4.84 and 3.22 insects per panicle, respectively), followed by T1 (6.63 and 3.92) and T3 (11.43 and 7.02). Relative to the farmer’s practice, thrips and hopper populations were reduced by 57.66% and 54.13%, respectively, under T2 and by 41.99% and 44.16%, respectively, under T1. Thrips-associated fruit damage was 5.96% under T2, 14.12% under T1 and 22.35% under T3. Mean thrips catches for T1 and T2 were 12.20 and 11.29 insects per trap, respectively. Fruit yields were 52.35, 48.10 and 33.20 kg per tree for T2, T1 and T3, respectively, with corresponding benefit–cost ratios of 1.42, 1.24 and 1.12. Under the tested conditions, Module T2 was associated with lower pest abundance and fruit damage and higher fruit yield and economic return than the other two treatments.