Detail:

Red ant is some time misunderstood as a pest of mango crop. Actual speaking it is an benificial insect, which kills the catter pillars and also attack the birds damaging the mango fruits. Its bitting makes an burning effect and a strong irritation. Thus helping to control these pest on the mango plant. Looking to the beneficial activity of the ant, it can be exploited in the insect pest management process. About 1000 ants are kept on mango tree in plastic bag and allow to multiply there itself. The population of ants increases day by day and moves on trees.

Knowledge Provider / Innovator: Jedhabhai Shamalbhai Patel
Agro-Ecological Zone: Central Highlands (Malwa), Gujarat Plain And Kathiawar Peninsula, Semi-Arid Eco- Region (5.3)
Address: Mu. Ingrola, Babra, Amreli
District: Amreli
State: Gujarat
PIN Code 365620

Crop: mango plant
Crop Family: Anacardiaceae
Crop Scientific Name: (Mangifera indica)
Crop Vernacular Name: Ambo
Formulation: About 1000 ants are kept on mango tree in plastic bag and allow to multiply there itself. The population of ants increases day by day and moves on trees.
Ingredients: red ant

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PAS 1:

"Mango is the most important commercial fruit crop in the Northern Territory, Australia. Growers currently rely on insecticides to control insect pests of mango, resulting in environmental and social problems. To reduce dependency on insecticides, a suitable IPM programme is needed. Previous work showed that weaver ants can control the major mango insect pests, but they protect soft scales, damage fruits by their formic acid and annoy operatives during fruit harvest. Further research addressing these constraints showed that certain chemicals can reduce soft scale numbers without seriously affecting weaver ant populations, the isolation of ant colonies reduces fruit damage by formic acid, and water spray reduces the ant activity during harvest. A field experiment with two treatments, weaver ants plus soft chemicals (WPS) and weaver ants plus chemical insecticides (CI), was conducted at Howard Springs in the Northern Territory. In two out of the three years, the yield of first class fruit was 20% higher in WPS than in CI. This was mostly explained by lower insect pest damage, lower incidence of mango scab disease and lower infestation of lenticels in WPS. Trees in WPS produced significantly more fruits than in CI in 2002. Overall, trees in WPS resulted in a profit of A$14.50/tree per year, but trees in CI produced only A$8.38/tree per year. During harvest, farmers experienced only minor problems with ant disturbance. An IPM model using weaver ants as a key element is discussed with respect to ‘organic’ production." -
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09670870500131749