Assessment of potato leaf miner (Liriomyza huidobrensis Blanchard) infestation throughout the important commercial potato production pockets of the country Nepal

The study on abundance of Liriomyza huidobrensis infestation in Potato was conducted in four districts of Nepal, namely Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Kavre and Bhaktapur, which are the major potato growing pocket areas of the country. Frequent survey regarding incidence and infestation of insects was done during the flowering and harvesting stages of the crop in the respective districts. The analysis of data indicated that the types of foliage damage, i.e., lower, middle and top, is significantly different to each other in every districts of the country. Altitude wise, the lower and middle leaf damage is significant which increased with increase in altitude from 1300 to 1700 masl (metre above sea level), whereas the top leaf damage is insignificant in any of the altitude. The average damage on foliage leaves was recorded highest in Kavre district (50±0.16%) followed by Bhaktapur (41±0.15%), Kathmandu (39±0.22%) and Lalitpur (26±0.24%), respectively. Thus, the old aged leaves and higher altitude are the two factors that affected the damage by leaf miner. This result will help the farmers to apply the suitable cultivation practices and management options in the particular place of Nepal and altitude for the control of the very insect pest.