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Cashew plantation in Odisha attacked by tea mosquito bug

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Environment
  • Published
    27th Apr, 2022

Context

Tea mosquito bugs have attacked acres of cashew crops in Odisha and climate change may be to blame.

Important facts about the Crop

  • Scientific name: Anacardium occidentale
  • Cashew is native of South Eastern Brazil, from where it was introduced to Malabar coast of India in the sixteenth century.
  • The cashew tree is a low spreading, evergreen tree with a number of primary and secondary branches.
  • Climate: It is a hardy tropical plant and does not exact a very specific, climate. 
  • Type of soil: Cashew is cultivated on a wide variety of soils in India like laterite, red and coastal sandy soil. To a limited extent, it is also grown on black soils. It can be also grown in hill slopes in virgin organic matter rich soils.
  • Producing states: Commercial cashew cultivation is practiced in eight states, primarily on the west and east coasts, namely Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.  
    • Odisha is the third-largest state in cashew cultivation.

Tea mosquito bug

  • The tea mosquito bug (Helopeltis antonii) has been around for years but generally infected the cashew plantations in the south Indian states.
  • The genus Helopeltis is a group of Heteropterans in the family Miridae and tribe Dicyphini. 
  • They are serious pests of cashew during cropping season in India and other cashew growing countries.
  • Pest damage begins during flushing stage of cashew and continues during flowering and fruiting.

Verifying, please be patient.

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