Apart from the citrus greening, orange growers across the country are currently grappling with late fruit drop. It is a premature shedding of fruits from trees before it is fully ripe. In Tsirang, citrus growers say, they are losing almost 30 to 40 per cent of fruits to the late fruit drop every year affecting their income.
The orange production is better this year in Tsirang. The fruits are seen in abundance and hanging in sprawling branches that the trees can hardly withstand the weight. But much to their dismay, orange growers are losing huge quantities of oranges to the late fruit drop. While it is not much of a problem for those citrus growers who have already sold their oranges, it is a problem for those who have not yet sold their oranges.
Orange growers say that in the past they experienced the citrus drop every alternate year. However, in recent years, citrus growers have been experiencing the citrus drop every year.
Orange grower from Rangthangling Gewog, Tek Bdr. Sunwar said, “The orange production is better this year. But almost 30 to 40 per cent of fruits are dropping. This is a huge loss for orange growers like myself. In the past, I used to earn around Nu 900,000 from my 80-acre orange orchard. But due to severe citrus drop, I am expecting only around Nu 400,000 this year.”
“If the fruits keep on dropping like this, orange dealers may stop booking orange orchards. We would be grateful if authorities concerned could guide us on how to tackle the problem,” said Radha Krishna Chamlagai, an orange grower from Kilkhorthang Gewog.
Mon Bdr. Dahal, an orange grower from Gosarling said, “Huge quantities of oranges are falling down. I don’t know what kind of pest is causing that. We are losing almost 50 per cent of orange production to the condition every year.”
Pema Chofil, the Programme Director of the Agriculture Research and Development Centre based at Bajo in Wangdue Phodrang said that the fruit drop is caused mainly by three factors. He said that the condition at this time of the year is usually caused by Chinese fruit flies. He said that the infected fruits will start untimely yellowing, unlike the uninfected ones.
“When the citrus fruits are about the size of a marble by June, female fruit flies will lay eggs in the citrus. Then the eggs will produce larvae and will remain in the citrus fruits till October. So once the fruits become infected with the growing of larvae it drops down,” said Pema Chofil.
The Programme Director said that disposing of the dropped citrus fruits in pits and covering up about four inches of soil is one of the easiest ways to tackle the problem. He is also recommending farmers to plough the orange orchards to expose pupa to cold and birds. He said that for adult fruit flies, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has been urging citrus growers to use pheromone traps and bad splashes to minimise the fruit dropping.
“But socially it is very difficult because of the way we are settled. We are settled in a clustered manner. So we have orange orchards adjoining each other. There are some farmers who adopt the practice of disposing of dropped oranges in pits and cover with soil but there are also some farmers who don’t listen to the practice. So that is the most discouraging factor,” said Pema Chofil.
A few citrus growers in the district have tried disposing of infected fruits in the pits. However, they say it didn’t work well to curb the infestation. They also say that they are not very used to using pheromone traps and bad splashes.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Kipchu
