The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) has started the procurement of 'fruit fly traps' for management of fruit fly for mango, citrus and guava orchards spreading over 15,000 acres of land in 30 districts of the province 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.
The orchard growers of notified districts will be provided Methyl Eugenol and six trap boxes per acre for control of male population of fruit fly and Protein Hydrolysate with material for control of female population on cost sharing basis. The farmers having orchard areas from one to 12 acres of targeted crops will be eligible for 50 percent subsidy and having area from 13 acres and above for 30 percent subsidy. For provision of material, advertisements will be issued through press, extension field staff and electronic media in all notified districts, so that maximum growers can be invited to participate in the process for availing the government facility.
The province of Punjab is blessed with favourable climatic conditions for the production of high value fruit crops because of highly fertile alluvial soils, conducive day and night temperatures, availability of sweet water and cheap labour. More than 20 fruits are grown on commercial basis, albeit, mango, citrus and guava have significant share and their area is more than 82 percent of the total area under fruit crops.
International standards for export of fruit and vegetables are increasing. Being food items, the world is imposing various sanctions on problematic imports. The sources said that keeping in view the ensuing threat of fruit fly and increasing appetite of export of fruits from Pakistan to European countries and other high end markets, it was the need of time to design and execute a comprehensive project for the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of fruit fly in 30 top producing districts of the province. Implementation of this project on one side will be helpful to minimise the infestation of fruit fly and on the other side it will enhance the quality production of targeted fruit crops for fetching foreign exchange through enhanced exports.
The per unit area production of mango, citrus and guava in Punjab is low as compared to other competitive countries and export share of these fruits are also minimum due to improper management of insect/pest, 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 highly 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.
Fruit fly directly damages fruits and causes significant loss. Farmers' awareness about its control is not updated. Generally chemical control is adopted which does not control the pest on long-term basis. Moreover, consequential pesticide residue also causes hazard to human health. Only solution lies in managing fruit fly through integrating all possible methods.
Top five growing districts each of mango, citrus and guava in Punjab will be selected for provision of Methyl Eugenol and Protein Hydrolysate on cost sharing basis. These districts for mango are Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Muzaffargarh, Khanewal and Bahawalpur. For Citrus, these districts are Sargodha, Toba Tek Singh, Mandi Bahauddin, Sahiwal and Vehari. For Guava these traps would be provided on cost sharing basis in Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur, Faisalabad and Okara.