Scale and mealybug management options for lychee growers - an extension toolkit

Abstract

The lychee industry is focused on export markets to ensure a profitable future as domestic plantings rapidly expand. Scale and mealybug pests are commonly found in lychee orchards and are generally a minor problem for growers supplying the Australian domestic market. However, the pests present a challenge to producers targeting quarantine markets in New Zealand and the United States of America. Pre-irradiation inspections required as part of the export protocol may find scale and mealybug juvenile stages on fruit, resulting in a treatment delay until the pests are identified and able to be classified as quarantine or non-quarantine pests. An identification delay will result in fruit being diverted to the domestic market which disappoints export customers and increases downward price pressures domestically. Current management practices require improvement particularly for growers targeting export markets with quarantine protocols.