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The Troubled Mango Season
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Posted on Apr 24 2002
The Issue: The Mango Season is here but tiny black insects have ruined fruits in most areas here. Can the Division of Agriculture assist in warding off fruit flies and other destructive pests?
The Mango Season brings a refreshing sense of rejuvenation as the trees blossom in early April set to deliver a local fruit enjoyed by most people here.
However, as in previous years, the fruits have fallen off the trees prematurely. Tiny black pests are found inside each mango. It must be a form of insect pest that derails this fruit from reaching maturity.
Mango tree owners noticed the destruction of mango fruits from one end of the island to the other. The pest must be a combination of another destructive wave of insect and fruit flies. The result is equally destructive.
The old folks blame the constant quick shift in the tropical weather—heavy rains out of sync with the usual climate, then a blistering sunshine for the next several hours.
Obviously, the pest needs to be addressed and resolved to ensure mango tree owners a healthy harvest at some point in the near future.
A healthy harvest could encourage the establishment of a cottage industry in mango jams, pickle or sale in local markets for mango-loving consumers. For families with mango tree groves, this and previous years must have been a dread for them.
The Division of Agriculture should step in and assist ward off the tiny but highly destructive pest. If this Division is doing something about the problem, perhaps it could see its work achieve greater fruition if it shares information with the public.
Mango is an indigenous fruit, its planting a good hobby, its protection the joint responsibility of tree-owners and the Division of Agriculture. If this pest problem isn’t resolved, then like the flame trees along main road, the mango tree too, could be extinct in less than a decade. Let’s do something about today.
