Kurikong Mangga or Cecid Fly, Huge Crop Losses

I wrote this last March 04, 2015:

Two weeks ago, we were hopeful that we can finally harvest mangos in the farm, after about 3 or 4 years of zero harvest due to massive attacks by "kurikong mangga" or cecid fly.  See here, some of the  young mangos in the farm, photo taken last February 14 or just two weeks ago.

I went back to the farm last weekend, our caretaker told me that many young fruits have been infected already, many have fallen to the ground already.

See the dark and black spots. The damage penetrates inside, under the skin. Horrible pests.

The other side of these three young fruits. The pests are too small, they seem to be not visible to the naked eye.

Every year, a different group of mango sprayers come to the farm. Sharing of harvest, assuming there is one, is 70 percent to the sprayer and 30 percent to the farm owner/s. This year's sprayer is supposed to have discovered new treatment or pesticides vs kurikong mangga. It showed  initially because the fruits have reached more 1 to 1 1/2 inch in height already.

But it seems the pests were simply decimated partially. Those that were able to escape and survive came back, with a vengeance.

These packages of pesticides I found in the farm. The sprayers have left them there. I took some photos last February 14. I am not familiar how effective these chemicals are.

Labels at the back.

While we will experience another loss this year in  the form of zero share, zero harvest, bigger loss is to be borne by the sprayers. I expect that their loss should be near six digits, cost of chemicals + labor + food + transportation. Their workers/sprayers go to the farm every five days on average.

Among the travails and uncertainties of agri-business.
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Last Saturday, March 14, I visited the farm again. Damage to the fruits has been rather extensive. Instead  of  several  hundreds kaing  of  mangos, we  should be lucky if we can get 10 kaing. Or zero, again, for the 4th or 5th straight year. Here are some of the fruits which have fallen to the ground, and they are about 1 1/2 months away from harvest period. They have huge or wide cracks up in the tree, or lots of black spots in the skin, before they fall  down.

Poor us. But more unlucky are the mango sprayers who spent tens of thousands of pesos in our farm alone, plus probably the same amount of money in a neighboring farm.
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See also: 
Upland mangos sweeter than lowland mangos?, June 12, 2007 
Cecid Fly or "Kurikong Manga", March 19, 2012 
Hoping for a Mango Harvest This Year, February 17, 2015

Hoping for a Mango Harvest This Year

We have not harvested any mangos in  the farm  over the past three or four years already. The cecid fly or "kurikong manga" has been attacking many farms including ours that resulted in often complete wipe out of potential harvests.

Below, some of our mango trees in the Millora Farm. Our farm caretaker, Nong Endring Paragas, was showing me the areas that they have cleaned. Pictures taken  last Sunday, February 15.

We do not spray our mangos, other people specialize in doing it. They spray for flower induction, when the flowers come out, they take care of them and spray various insecticides (leaf hoppers, fruit flies, various insects and pests) until they become small fruits and so on. Before, the sharing of the harvest was 60-40 in favor of the mango sprayer/s. Recently, with huge losses by mango sprayers, the sharing is 70-30 in favor of the sprayers. The past 3 or 4 years, the sprayers in the farm suffered heavy losses because of the kurikong manga attacks.

This year, a businessman sprayer from Central Pangasinan sprayed the mangos, 70-30 sharing. His team seems sophisticated enough to  control the cecid fly attacks. Here are the young fruits as of last Sunday. They seem plentiful. To have optimum  harvest, there should be only 3-4 fruits per "tangkay" or mini-branch. If there are 5 or more, the fruits are small as the tree will  have difficulty supplying nutrients to the fruits.

Another tree with plentiful young fruits. Soon the fruits will reach the soil as they grow heavier each day, the branches will  be supported with short posts so that the fruits will not touch the  soil and be exposed to other potential pests.

There are indicators that cecid fly have come, like these two young fruits. On the left, it has turned yellow and getting dry; on the right, there are black spots, indicator of pest attack. The other "tangkays" have lost all of their young fruits.

Nong Endring and his son Danny are very industrious in cleaning up the farm, removing tall and dry cogon and  other grasses, then burn the grasses. Grass fires occur yearly, not necessarily on the same spot.

Our two dogs accompany Nong Endring when he goes around. There are some wild snakes that are roaming around in some areas, these crawlers are scared of dogs, they quickly run away if they hear footsteps and dogs barking.

Last year, a huge grassfire from a neighboring farm crossed the boundary and burned a number of our mango trees. See the gray, dried leaves.

Another tree that was burned last year.

We really hope that we can harvest and eat mangos from the farm this year. Crossing our fingers.
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See also: 
Upland mangos sweeter than lowland mangos?, June 12, 2007 
Cecid Fly or "Kurikong Manga", March 19, 2012

Cecid Fly or "Kurikong Manga"

Our mango trees in the farm in Pangasinan -- please note that I only visit and help manage the farm, I don't own it -- are already huge mature. Not too many, maybe 200+ trees, but not all are bearing fruit regularly. Some are too close to mature forest trees and lose in the competition for sunlight, some are too close to each other, just 10-15 meters apart when they should be 20-25 meters apart, while others were felled by previous typhoons.

There are years that we harvest plenty enough, but in most years, the harvest is low for various reasons. The first major threat is pest infestation, second is forest and/or grass fire, usually coming from the public forest land or in neighboring private farms. Third is strong typhoon or continued rains even in supposedly dry months. We clean the mango trees and their surrounding as much as possible, especially when the fruits are getting bigger. To reduce or prevent pest infestation, control grassfire, and so on.

Some nice photos of mango trees when they are bearing plenty of flowers, later the young mango fruits, below.

This year, we harvested practically nothing, due to pest infestation called "kurikong manga" or cecid fly.

From some literatures:

(a) Kurikong Infests Mango Farms in Central Luzon

... a pest called cecid fly or gall midge.

This fly, known as ‘saksak walis’ or `kurikong’ in Luzon, `buti,’ or `armalite,’ ‘Gloria-gloria,’ or ‘Nora-nora’ in the Visayas and Mindanao, infests mango farms across the country.

The adult mango cecid fly resembles a mosquito and commonly lays its eggs on young mango leaves. The larvae which develop from eggs, mine the leaves producing dark green circular galls or swelling of tissues along the leaf blade. When the adults emerge from these galls, the leaves develop circular spots or holes which are sometimes mistaken as fungal infection. Under heavy infestations, the leaves wrinkle and turn yellow.

The infestation, however, affects the fruits more. When hit early, young mango fruits fall off from the tree. Fruits that remain produce circular brown scab-like spots randomly distributed on the fruit’s surface. Infested fruits retain these scabby lesions up to harvest time, thus affecting the quality and commanding a lower market price....

(b) Preventing “Kurikong” Problem In Mango

The damage inflicted by the Cecid fly on mango fruits, more popularly known as ‘Kurikong,’ is becoming an important concern of mango growers in many parts of the country.

Affected fruits are usually unmarketable because of the circular black or brown scabby lesions on the skin of the fruits. Both small and big fruits are affected. If the infestation is early, the affected young fruits usually drop from the tree.

On the other hand, affected fruits that reach maturity are unattractive and if they can be sold at all, they fetch a very low price. Some of the affected fruits also crack, according to the BPI experts.

The Cecid fly is a small mosquito-like insect that is active at night so spraying should be done at night or late in the afternoon. It lays its eggs on the developing fruits. If the mango tree is not in fruit, the Cecid fly lays its eggs on the leaves, causing circular protuberances on the surface.

The egg and larval stages are spent in the fruit while the pupal stage is spent in the ground, according to the BPI. The adult lives for only three to five days. Being small, the adults can be carried by wind. The pupa can be introduced in a new place when infested soil of planting materials is transported to that new place....

Bagging of mango fruits, ie, wrapping each and every fruit with paper, is a very labor intensive activity. There are huge costs involved, although the benefits are clear too, like the prevention of cecid fly attacks.

We should seriously consider this option next year.