LOW COST BOTTLE TRAP FOR THE MANAGEMENT
OF FRUIT FLIES
 Cucurbits, summer tomato and fruits are important cash crops of Mandi
district
 Fruit flies causing huge economic losses to the tune of 35 – 80% in different
areas
 Annual losses due to fruit flies in India are estimated at around Rs. 6000
crores
 Existing recommendations fail to target the adults, eggs and the developing
maggots apart from high residual toxicity of pesticides
 A localized bottle trap was developed by KVK Mandi (HP) using a
combination of fruit fly para pheromones for attracting male adults for
effective and eco-friendly management of this dreaded pest
 The bottle trap is made of waste plastic bottles and does not require any
technical expertise. Farmers themselves can prepare these traps and the
lures (parapheromnones) are supplied by the KVK.
Fruit fly damage in cucurbits
Fruit fly bottle trap
Preparation of fruit fly traps
Demonstration in training programmes
Hon’ble DDG (Agril. Extension) ICAR examining the trap in KVK
The details of problems addressed and solved:
Existing Problems
As per the SAU recommendation,
either insecticides or jiggery +
malathion is recommended for the
management of fruit flies with little
success
Frequent pesticide application results
in environmental pollution and human
health hazards
Insecticidal
intensive
application
is
labour
Problems solved
The recommendation of fruit fly traps
@ 25 traps per hectare + Bait
application technique (BAT) not only
reduced fruit infestation but also
reduced fruit fly numbers with
passage of time as males are trapped
and unmated females either do not
lay eggs or lay unfertilized eggs.
Installation of fruit fly traps reduced
the
number
of
insecticidal
applications, consequently minimizing
input
costs
and
minimize
environmental pollution
Fruit fly bottle traps are effective for
6-8 weeks and one trap covers an
area of around 400 sq. meters and
require no labour for installation
KVK Interventions
 Development of fruit fly trap
 On Farm Trials
 Recommendation in SAU Package of Practices
 Front Line Demonstrations
 Capacity building of extension functionaries and farmers
 Advisory Services
 SMS service
 TV Talks
 Print media, Local magazines and Pamphlets
On Farm Trials for technology refinement
Treatment
s
Cucurbits
Tomato
% Fruit
damag
e
Yield
(q/ha
)
%
increas
e over
control
Net
Return
s
B:C
rati
o
% Fruit
damag
e
Yield
(q/ha
)
%
increas
e over
control
Net
Return
s
B:C
rati
o
BAT (50 g
jaggery + 10
ml
malathion
/5 l
waterspray
thrice at 15
days
interval
(Farmers’
practice)
Lure traps
@ 25/ ha
Lure traps +
BAT
40.6
117.5
-
77500
2.93
29.2
215.6
-
75800
3.36
56.8
93.5
- 20.4
53900
2.36
25.6
218.4
1.3
77600
3.46
29.2
142.0
20.9
100400
3.41
14.3
251.9
16.8
92350
3.75
Relative advantage of Innovative Farming Technology (IFT):
Particular
Cost benefit/profitability
Labour and time saving
Drudgery reduction
Adaptability across the
system
Relative advantage
In cucurbits, installation of fruit fly traps @ 25 traps/
ha along with BAT (jiggery + malathion) application
thrice increased fruit yield to 142.0 q/ha compared
to 117.5 q/ha in farmers practice. The yield
advantage of technology was 20.9% with net
returns and B: C ratio of Rs. 1,00,400/ha and 3.41,
respectively in cucurbits while in tomato yield
advantage of technology was 16.8% with net
returns and B: C ratio of Rs. 92,350/ha and 3.75,
respectively.
Installation of fruit fly traps reduced number of
insecticidal applications from 6-7 to 3, reducing not
only labour costs but also saving time and money.
Women are always engaged in farm operations in
the region and were exposed to harmful insecticides
resulting in many ill effects. As the trap installation
has reduced the number of applications, the
chances of women health hazards have reduced.
The trap has become very popular among the
farmers with in a short span of one year and KVK
sold around 4000 traps during the last season
earning revenues to the tune of Rs. 3.5 lakhs. Thus,
this technology has now been widely adopted in the
district.
Horizontal spread
 The technology horizontally spread in 200 ha within last two years with
minimal fruit fly infestation resulting in revival of cucurbits and tomato in
the district