Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

The ripening pods of tamarind are attacked by caterpillars of Aphomia
gularis Zeller (Lepidoptera: Piralidae) in South India. Stored fruits are
commonly infested with Paralipsa gularis Zellar and Corcyra cephalonia
Stnt. in India (Butani, 1978). The larvae attain a maximum size of 18 mm
and are stout, greyish in colour with brownish spots. The caterpillars of
Assara albicostalis Walk. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) bore inside the fruit and
eat the pulp and sometimes bore into the seed.
Calandra linearis beetle also attacks fruits and is reported as a common pest
in Florida and Hawaii (NAS, 1979). Neem (Azadirachta indica L.) oil at the
rate of 5 to 20 ml per kg of seed, has been used effectively to control bruchid
beetles attacking tamarind pods and seeds. The use of neem oil has
pronounced adulticidal and ovicidal effects, which are maintained over six
months, without any effect on seed viability. This low cost bio-pesticide is
very cost effective and efficient in protecting seeds of tamarind from bruchid
damage. The method is widely used in the Sahel (Cardet et al., 1998). As
neem trees are grown in the arid and semi-arid tropics where tamarind also
grows, use of neem oil, which can be easily extracted by simple methods,
should complement or replace the use of chemicals to control bruchids.
Clove oil has also been shown to be a protectant for stored seeds preventing
attack by brachids (Lale and Marina, 2002): this was recorded in Nigeria
where peanut and tamarind are common. This pest can also be controlled by
fumigation with phosphine from aluminium phosphide tablets weighing 3 g
each, applied at 0.5 tablet/ton. Ethylene bromide, carbon tetrachloride and
acrylnitrile could also be used for fumigation of stored tamarind products
(Mital and Khanna, 1978). For more information regarding the use of these
products the reader is refered to:
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_ChemUse.jsp?Rec_Id=PC33216.
Larvae of Alphitobius laevigatus Fabr., Echocerus maxillosus Fabr. and
Uloma spp. are other minor pests that attack tamarind fruits. The beetles of
Lasioderma serricorne Fabr. (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), Lasioderma spp.,
Calandra linearis Herbst. (Curculionidae) and Tribolium cataneum
(Tenebrionidae) are reported to bore into the fruit and cause considerable
damage (Singh and Ahmed, 1989). Dichocrosis punctiferalis Guenee
(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Phycita orthoclina Meyrick are reported as
fruit boring insects of minor importance (Butani, 1979). Cryptophalebia
illepida Butler (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), a polyphagus species has been
found boring into the fruits of tamarind (Usman and Puttarudriah, 1955). In
some seasons, fruit borers cause serious damage to the mature fruits causing
losses to marketable yield (Salim et al., 1998). If fruits are left for long
periods on the trees they become infested with beetles, which can also carry
over into storage. Termites (Cryptotermes hainanensis (Isoptera:
Kalotermitidae) attack trees in Hainan, China (Ping, 1987).
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