SCREENING OF GERMPLASM AGAINST CASHEW TEA MOSQUITO BUG (HELOPELTIS ANTONII)

Field screening to natural infestation of tea mosquito bug was done for seven consecutive years, in total 18 cashew accessions consisting of released cultivars, promising hybrids and other accessions. The screening trail was conducted at the Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle during the years 2004-05 to 2010-11. The damage to the shoot, panicle and nut surface was assessed by scoring in the 0-4 scale system. The result indicated that all the accession are susceptible to tea mosquito bug infestation with not any resistant/tolerant to the target insect pest. The intensity of percent infestation was found to vary among the accessions.