horticulture experts from the us have warned apple growers not to apply harmful compounds to trees that can kill aphid parasites and mite predators. These compounds can damage their produce and the production level will automatically drop.
Experts visiting the apple-growing areas of Shimla have said that factors like drought and huge crop load are also responsible for last year's poor produce. They have recommended that the government should provide very good quality summer oil which can be applied by growers during the initial stages. This will not damage the leaves but will kill mite and other pests. They added that growers should know that use of pyrethroid compounds or pyrethrin can kill aphid parasites and lead to outbreaks of woolly apple aphids in the fruit. They pointed out that a drop in production could also have been due to insufficient number of colonies of pollinating bees. They said effective orchard pollinators must be introduced.
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