Insect Inventories in a Mango-based Agroforestry Area in Murshidabad, West Bengal

Abstract

Agroforestry is an eco-friendly crop production system that provides habitat for biodiverse flora and fauna. The mango-based agroforestry constitutes of mango trees, crops, weeds, insect pests, predators and pollinators. The mango (Mangifera indica L.) plant is a multipurpose fruit tree that yields fruit, timber and fuel, and is suitable for agro-forestry systems in tropical and subtropical regions. The mango fruit is an important source of sustenance for birds, bats, insects, and mammals. Many insect species damage mango crops by feeding on leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits. Also, many insect species play a vital role in pollination as well as fruit set, and predator prey interactions keep balance between pest incidence and fruit production. Insect species inventories along with pest prevalence and foraging behaviour of pollinators were investigated in several mango orchards of Murshidabad. Insects were collected by capture with sweep net and visual observation followed. The principal insect pest of mango were 2 species of hopper and 1 species of mealy bug, inflorescence midge, fruit fly, scale, shoot borer, leaf webber and stone weevil. The leaf hopper, shoot borer and stone weevil are found to be major pest in Murshidabad mango based agroforestry area.