AE 142– Processing, Handling and Storage of Agricultural

Products II

Laboratory Exercise No.6

Postharvest Insect Pests and Diseases

NAME: EUGENE S. OROSCO JR. DATE: 11-23-19

STUDENT NO: 15-050610 GRADE: _____

I. INTRODUCTION

A wide variety of fungal and bacterial pathogens cause post-harvest disease in fruits and
vegetables. Some of these infect produce before harvest and then remain quiescent until
conditions are more favorable for disease development after harvest. Other pathogens infect
produce during and after harvest through surface injuries. In the development of strategies for
post-harvest disease control, it is imperative to take a step back and consider the production
and post-harvest handling systems in their entirety.
Agricultural production and food distribution systems have evolved over many years to a
complex system which allows for nearly year-round supply of most fresh commodities through
long term storage and long-distance shipments to consumers. The expectation of year-round
supplies has resulted an increased challenges for post-harvest handling systems.

II. OBJECTIVES

At the end of this exercise, you should be able to:

1. Identify insect pests of horticultural crops regarded as quarantine pests,
2. Determine measures on how to control these insect pests,
3. Identify diseases in horticultural perishables, and
4. Determine measures on how to control these diseases in horticultural perishables.

III. METHOD:

1. Collect images of insect pests in horticultural perishables,

2. Collect images of damages in horticultural perishables for each insect pest (include
scientific name of fruits/vegetables/ornamentals and insect pest, source of image),
3. Enumerate and describe the proper methods/measures/disinfestation treatment to which
insect pest infestation can be addressed. List also the advantage and disadvantage of
each treatment,
4. Collect images of diseases in horticultural perishables,
5. Collect images of damages in horticultural perishables for each disease (include
scientific name of fruits/vegetables/ornamentals and disease, source of image),
 6. Enumerate and describe the proper methods/measures/disinfestation treatment to which
disease infestation can be addressed. List also the advantage and disadvantage of each
treatment

IV. GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What are common insect pests in fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables?

2. What happens to fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables when insect pests are present? Insect
pests have different effects to different fruits/vegetable/ornamentals.
3. What are the pros and cons of current disinfestation treatment?
4. What are common diseases in fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables?
5. What happens to fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables when diseases are present?
6. What are the pros and cons of current treatment?

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Collect images of insect pests in horticultural perishables.

INSECTS PESTS IMAGES

AVOCADO LEAF ROLLER

BANANA APHID

BANANA FLOWER THRIPS

BEAN BLOSSOM THRIPS

CITRUS MEALYBUG

CORN EARWORM

EGGFRUIT CATERPILLAR

POTATO MOTH

BANANA SPIDER MITE

SUGARCANE BUD MOTH

 2. Collect images of damages in horticultural perishables for each insect pest
(include scientific name of fruits/vegetables/ornamentals and insect pest, source
of image),

Fruits/Vegetables/ Image Scientific Name

Ornamentals
1. Avocado (Persea Americana)

2. Banana (Musa acuminate)

3. Banana (Musa acuminate)

4. Bean (Musa acuminate)

(Musa acuminate)

5. Citrus (Citrus reticulata)

6. Corn (Zea mays

subsp.mays)
 7. Eggfruit (Pouteria campechiana)

8. Potato (Solanum tuberosum)

9. Banana (Musa acuminate)

10. Banana (Musa acuminate)

3. Enumerate and describe the proper methods/measures/disinfestation treatment to

which insect pest infestation can be addressed. List also the advantage and
disadvantage of each treatment.

Diseases Proper methods/measures/disinfection

1. AVOCADO LEAF Biological-The extent to which these bicontrols operate
ROLLER depends on the level of disruption caused by pesticides
applied to control other pests.
Chemical-Sprays during flowering must be avoided to prevent
death of bees and other pollinators.

2. BANANA APHID Biological- Natural predators such as ladybird beetles,

hoverflies, earwigs and lacewings usually maintain low aphid
populations.
Chemical-Spray only if aphid problem is severe. Avoid
regular spraying as this will remove beneficial insects and
may induce other pests problems.
3. BANANA FLOWER Biological-A range of predatory bugs, ladybird beetles and
THRIPS lacewings assist in reducing thrips populations.
Chemical-Bunch injection with insecticide to control scab
moth has been very successful in preventing corky scab
development northern queensland.
4. BEAN BLOSSOM Chemical registrations and permits- Check the Australian
THRIPS Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority chemical
databased and permit database for chemicals registered or
approved under permit to treat this pest on the target crop in
your location.
5. CITRUS Monitor at fortnightly intervals from mid-November to near
MEALYBUG harvest. Sample five fruit per tree on each of 20 randomly
selected trees per 1-5 ha. Block.
6. CORN EARWORM Shake the plants onto a white sheet or cut open fertilizer bag.
Examine five 1m sections of row at six widely spaced
locations throughout the crop. Examine the crop twice weekly
from early flowering until crop maturity.
7. EGGFRUIT Monitoring can be done by examining fruit for eggs or larvae,
CATERPILLAR or by using pheromone traps. Several effective insecticides are
available to control eggfruit caterpillar.
8. POTATO MOTH Biological-This pest is usually suppressed by parasitoids.
Pheromones are available to trap male moths and indicate
changes in numbers.
9. BANANA SPIDER Monitoring should be carried out fortnightly during hot dry
MITE conditions and otherwise at intervals of three weeks. Action
thresholds have yet to be determined, but if mites are found on
the young leaves and fry to hot conditions are expected, a
treatment should be applied to prevent damage. Miticides are
most efficient if applied early in the infestation.
10. SUGARCANE BUD Chemical-Dust with chemical at the time the bunch cover is
MOTH applied. Minimize dust deposits on fruit by aiming the dust
delivery tube towards the inside of the plastic bag.
GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What are common insect pests in fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables?

COMMON INSECT PESTS IMAGE
Spider mites

Aphids

Mealybugs

Whiteflies

Harlequin bugs

Stinkbugs

Thrips
2. What happens to fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables when insect pests are present? Insect
pests have different effects to different fruits/vegetable/ornamentals.

INSECTS EFFECTS
Spider mites Mites pierce leaf tissue and suck sap in the larval, nymphal and adult
stages. Plants attacked begin to lose color, fading from green to
yellow and eventually turn red. Heavy infestations may kill some
plants and heavy webbing may appear on certain plants. Damage
results by adults feeding in large numbers on leaf surface causing
silvering appearance.
Aphids Aphids congregate in large numbers and therefore, may infest
vegetables such as mustard greens and lettuce, and also may cause
the plant to stunt. Aphids remove plant sap, kill developing plants
cells and they also carry many diseases. Heavy infestations can
cause leaf curl, yellowing, poor growth and failure to set blossoms.
Mealybugs Green vegetable bug attacks beans, tomatoes and potatoes, and is
most active in hot weather. Bugs feed on flower buds and seed pods
resulting in premature flower drop, seed damage and distorted
development. In tomatoes, damage on green fruit appears, as dark
pinpricks, surrounded by a light discolored area that turns yellow or
remains light green on ripe fruits.
Whiteflies Two of the most important species are the greenhouse whitefly and
the sweet potato fly. Adult whiteflies are approximately equal to or
less than the size of aphids and have white moth-like wings.
Harlequin bugs Harlequin bug damage appears on stems and leaves, depending on
the species of plant attacked. The puncture sites will develop
cloudy, discolored spots, older plants may become stunted as the
feeding pressure from harlequin bugs increases.
Stinkbugs Noticeable damage may appear as pin pricks surrounded by a
yellow or green color. While a few stink bugs in the garden, may
not cause too much harm, many of them will quickly damage plants
and crops.
Thrips The males of some species are wingless. Eggs are thrust into plant
tissues, and nymphs are active, light-colored and wingless insects.
The mouthparts of adults and nymphs are similar and unusual, they
are designed to rasp plant tissues then suck the juices.

3. What are the pros and cons of current disinfestation treatment?

ADVANTAGES
-With the most current treatments, (vapor
heat treatment and forced hot-air
treatment), the hot water treatment has
many advantages, it is easy to implement, it
DISADVANTAGES
-Based on current knowledge, it is not
possible to conclude that any of the
processes is difficult. For instance, the
treatment of certain types/sizes/formats of
 is quick, it kills surface parasitic organisms, materials may be equipment specific
it makes it possible to clean the fruit surface rather than process specific.
and its cost only corresponds to
approximately 10% of the cost of one vapor
heat treatment.

4. What are common diseases in fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables?

COMMON DISEASES
1. Bacterial speck -Bacterial speck is a bacterial disease and
results in small, black spots on leaves,
stems, and fruits of tomatoes, at all stages
of growth. It is most common from winter
to mid-spring. Copper hydroxide may give
some control.
2. Clubroot -Clubroot is a fungus disease that only
affects Brassicas (the broccoli family).
Plants are yellowish and stunted, with
large malformed “clubbed” roots.
Clubroot may be severe in warm weather.
Avoid growing brassicas in the same area
for four years and lime the soil if it is
acidic.
3. Leaf spot diseases -There are many types of leaf spot diseases
that can affect beetroot, broad beans,
carrot celery, peas, potatoes, (early blight),
silver beet, and tomatoes (target spot).
Sometimes, the leaf spots cause only slight
damage, but if necessary, control with
mancozeb o copper hydroxide.
4. Damping-off -Damping-off fungal diseases such as
Pythium may kill small seedlings of most
vegetables. Seedlings die before they
emerge or soon after emergence, which
results in plant collapse.
5. Downey mildew -In spring, with mild, humid weather,
downy mildew fungus disease can cause
greyish-white patches on the leaves of
onions, which can droop from the tips.
 5. What are the pros and cons of current treatment?

ADVANTAGES
-With the most current treatments, (vapor
heat treatment and forced hot-air
treatment), the hot water treatment has
many advantages, it is easy to implement, it
is quick, it kills surface parasitic organisms,
it makes it possible to clean the fruit surface
and its cost only corresponds to
approximately 10% of the cost of one vapor
heat treatment.
DISADVANTAGES
-Based on current knowledge, it is not
possible to conclude that any of the
processes is difficult. For instance, the
treatment of certain types/sizes/formats of
materials may be equipment specific
rather than process specific.

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