Agriculture, Food Science and Technology

Biography

Biography: Amna Riasat

Abstract

Citrus is one of the major fruit crops and second largest fruit-processing industry in the world. It offers great nutritional values and do have an important role in our lives. Citrus leaf miner Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Gracillariidae: Lepidoptera) (CLM) is a drastic pest and a potential carrier of canker disease (pathogen Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri) in citrus plants. We assessed the effect of pathogen inoculum on citrus seedlings at concentrations (1×10², 1×10⁴ and 1×10⁶ cfu ml^-1) with 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 days interval. Seven discrete treatments i.e. intact leaves, mechanically wounded leaves and CLM injured leaves (egg, first instar larvae, second instar larvae, third instar larvae and pupal stage) were compared. Injuries caused by 3^rd instar larvae and pupae resulted in maximum disease incidence than other treatments. While, assessing the effect of entomopathogenic fungi against CLM, four treatments were prepared (fungus treated CLM on healthy seedlings, fungus treated CLM on infected seedlings, untreated CLM on healthy seedlings and untreated CLM on infected seedlings). Results revealed that fungus treated CLM on infected leaves exhibited maximum mortality (100%) with minimum number of galleries (5.67/plant), adult emergence (2.33) and maximum mycosis percentage (93%), while highest disease incidence (84.62%) occurred when untreated CLM were released on infected seedlings. Based on these findings, it might be concluded that microbial control of CLM is a promising strategy not only to manage the pest infestation but also reduce the disease incidence level in citrus cropping system