Survey of Banana Stem Weevil, <i>Odoiporus longicollis</i> (Oliv.) (Coleoptera : Curculionidae) in Nepal

Abstract

A survey was conducted randomly selecting 50 banana growers- ten each from Kailali, Morang, Tanahun, Nawalparasi, and Chitwan districts to identify banana farming practices. The semi-structured questionnaire was prepared, pre-tested, improved and data collected by face-to-face interview. The survey revealed that majorities were males (56.5%) with average family size of 5.74 under 15-59 years age, having landholding of 2.07 ha/family, over three-forth of land with irrigation facility. The use of poor suckers, poor crop management practices and heavy uses of chemical pesticides were the causal factors for the weevil infestation in more than five months old banana orchard, particularly in summer seasons. For its management, agro-vet (74.0%) and neighborhood (44.0%) played a significant role in selling chemicals and information sharing. Majority of the farmers were familiar about pesticide label, precaution measures and harmful aspects of chemical pesticides with the least emphasis on clean cultivation and biological control. Based on the study, field sanitation and pseudostem trapping utilizing indigenous materials can be useful for the sustainable management of banana stem weevil. Key words: Odoiporus longicollis, field survey, banana orchard J. Inst. Agric. Anim. Sci. 27:127-131 (2006)