Assessing The Potential Of The Use Of Locally-Available Spent Brewery Grain In The Management Of Fruit Flies In Southern Ghana

Abstract

The efficacy of Spent Brewery Grain of Pito (SBGP) and Brukutu (SBGB), used as sources of protein baits, were compared with two standard products - SUCCESS Appat (GF-120) and Great Fruit Fly Bait (GFFB)) as attractants in the field for the management of fruit flies in four mango farms in the Coastal Savanna ecological zone (Christian Farms, Adom Farms, Prosper and Boko Farms). Five plots (SBGP, SBGB, GF-120, GFFB and Control) were set up in each farm, with a total of 20 plots used for the study. Preparation of the four food bait treatments were delivered as spot sprays of approximately 50ml onto one square meter of foliage per tree on weekly bases, with Control plots receiving no treatment. After eight (8) weeks of treatment applications, thirty (30) mango fruits from each plot were harvested, weighed and incubated on sterilized sand to determine their levels of infestation. A total of six hundred mango fruits, weighing 400.66 kg were used for the incubation. The highest infestation level of 1.119 puparia per kg of fruits was recorded in the control plot, followed by 0.492 (GF-120), 0.458 (SBGP), 0.272 (SBGB) and 0.113 (GFFB). These results translate into fruit protection levels of 59.07 % (SBGP), 75.69 % (SBGB), 56.03 % (GF-120) and 89.90 % (GFFB), compared to the control plot. This implies that continuous use of local Spent Brewery Grains of Pito and Brukutu when integrated with other management practices such as orchard sanitation can help control fruit fly attack. Population dynamics of fruit flies were also monitored on weekly basis in the four different fields. A total of 155,180 insect species were collected during the study period, of which 152,575 (98.32%) were fruit flies and 2,605 (1.68%) as non-target organisms.