Brinjal is mainly harvested as unripe fruits and has high demand as a fresh vegetable in both local and export market. Lack of varieties resistant/tolerant to bacterial wilt and fruit borer are the major constrains to increase the production of this crop. Experimental results conclude that the EGH 184 is a high yielding hybrid with low percentage of both fruit borer ad bacterial wilt damage.
Testing the effectiveness of the synthetic sex pheromones
of
brinjal shoot and fruit borer under dry zone conditions
Five different chemical combinations of synthetic sex pheromones of brinjal shoot and fruit borer were obtained from AVRDC/Taiwan. These pheromones were tested for effectiveness at five locations in Sri Lanka in collaboration with HORDI. None of the pheromone samples that were tested in the dry zone was effective in attracting brinjal shoot and fruit borer moths.
Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus (YVMV) is a serious disease in okra. Variety 'Haritha' is a source of resistance for the particular disease. In the okra improvement programme, our main objective is to incorporate virus resistance genes to varieties through hybridization. In 2002, four lines were identified based on their fruit yield, fruit size and resistance tolerance to YVMV. These lines will be tested in NCVT programme.
Heat tolerant tomato for the dry zone
Tomato is one of the most important and popular vegetable crops of Sri Lanka. However the cultivation in the dry zone during the dry period is restricted due to high temperature. Out of ten heat tolerant lines tested, four (4) were selected for further the evaluation.