Efficacy of Physical, Botanical and Chemical Interventions Against the Shoot and Fruit Borer and Their Impact on Marketable Yield of Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) in Northern Bangladesh

Abstract

Litchi shoot and fruit borer (Conopomorpha sinensis) a key constraint to litchi production, is a factor that reduces the fruit quality and marketable yield. The present study compared the effectiveness of physical, botanical, organic, biopesticide and chemical control methods of litchi shoot and fruit borer and their impact on yield. The experiment was done in a commercial ‘Bombay’ litchi orchard at Ishwardi, Pabna, Bangladesh during March to September 2025 with Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having nine treatments and three replications. Chlorantraniliprole (T₈) proved to be the most effective against shoot borer with the lowest infestation rate of 2.67% and 88.24% reduction compared with the untreated control 22.67%. Fruit-Cluster bagging (T₁) and chlorantraniliprole (T₈) both reduced fruit-borer infestations to 3.00%, respectively, whereas the infestation was 28.33% in the control, resulting in 89.45% and 89.41% reduction, respectively. T₁ had the lowest infestation (2.67%) and reduction (91.30%) at harvest time and was followed by T₈ (3.00%, 90.22%) while the control had an infestation of 30.67%. Chlorantraniliprole also yielded more marketable yields (4.20 ± 0.11 t ha⁻¹) which was a 103.46% higher than the untreated control (2.07 ± 0.05 t ha⁻¹); neem oil yielded the highest number of fruits (1936.33 fruits tree⁻¹) and the highest gross yields (43.70 kg tree⁻¹). In general, chlorantraniliprole and fruit-cluster bagging were the most effective methods of controlling borer damage, and chlorantraniliprole led to the highest increase in marketable fruit. The results can contribute for a phenology-based IPM programme towards sustainable litchi production in Bangladesh with a combination of selective insecticide along with physical and botanical methods.