Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR Oct 4: Apple growers in Shopain district of South Kashmir are concerned about the emergence of a new invasive pest that is wreaking havoc on the leaves of apple trees and all existing disease control measures have proven ineffective.
According to the Department of Horticulture, orchardists previously mistook it for Alternaria leaf spot and used their own fungicides to control it, which proved to be a wasteful exercise. They said, however, because the majority of the pest population has overwintering on their leaves, fruits, twigs, and debris, ad hoc management practices should be used to control the disease at this point.
The Department of Horticulture in Kashmir has issued an advisory to orchardists in Kashmir regarding the outbreak of a new pest – a leaf minor (Leucoptera scitella) – in Zainapora and neighboring villages in District Shopian.
Experts are baffled by the pest that afflicted apple orchards in and around the government horticulture farm in Zainpora, claiming it was a non-native invasive species. “While there were some signs of this pest in Kashmir last year, it had spread rapidly this year in many orchards in Shopian’s Zainpora area,” an expert said. He added that they have been studying the pest for the past few days and will soon have all the information they need about the pest and its behavior.
Growers, on the other hand, have accused the horticulture department of failing to identify the insect early on. “Had the department informed the scientists on time, a lot of damage would have been avoided. The callous attitude of the department has caused this outbreak”, Basit, a local, said, adding that the insect’s spread was aided by the unnecessary delay in identification.
The insect has been identified, according to Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, Kashmir’s Director of Horticulture, and orchardists have been advised on how to deal with it. “It is curable if farmers follow advisories on a regular basis,” he said.
He and a team of experts from SKAUST University visited the affected areas, including Babarpora, Amnura, and the surrounding villages of Zainpora, to assess the pest’s severity. “We have advised the farmers to use different pest control techniques other than chemical control, such as orchid sanitation, use of pheromones, and so on,” he said.
He said that they have advised orchardists to work closely with the department for effective pest control. “We have issued the advisory through various mediums for pest control,” he said.
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