Vol. 11, Special Issue 9 (2022)

Author(s):
Preeti Kaundil, Raj Kumar Thakur, Budhi Ram, Shivani Chauhan, Sudha Singh, Sakshi Singh, Komal and Rajni Devi

Abstract:
No need to emphasise the importance of horticultural products, particularly fruit crops, to the Indian economy. Numerous fruits, including mango, litchi, citrus, guava, sapota, and pomegranate, are grown commercially and on a huge scale throughout India. Other fruits include apple and pear, peach, plum, apricot, and cherry, as well as walnut, pecan, hazelnut, and pistachio nuts. The majority of these crops, with an annual production of 2471 thousand tonnes and an average productivity of 5.14 t/ha, have greatly improved farmers' economies (Indian Horticulture Database, 2010). Acarina (Phytophagous Mites) are a global group with a wide host range, and they are one of many pests that wreak havoc on these crops (insects such as scale, woolly aphid, mites, thrips, and rodents and mite, among others). These phytophagous mites cause biotic stress to their host plant and negatively affect the marketable produce, costing growers money. Integrated mite management, which includes cultural control, the use of mite and insect predators, botanicals/biopesticides, and the management of fungi, bacteria, and viruses, is one environmentally friendly strategy that can be used to keep these mites under control in a variety of horticultural crops.