{"id":354445,"date":"2026-01-20T18:16:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=354445"},"modified":"2026-01-20T18:16:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:46:30","slug":"indias-coconut-economy-and-rugose-spiralling-whitefly-rsw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-coconut-economy-and-rugose-spiralling-whitefly-rsw\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Coconut Economy and Rugose Spiralling Whitefly (RSW)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News: <\/strong>The rugose spiralling whitefly continues to spread across coconut-growing regions in India, causing severe yield losses and rising financial stress for farmers.<\/p>\n<h2>About India\u2019s Coconut Economy<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_354446\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-354446\" style=\"width: 424px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-354446\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=424%2C198&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"India\u2019s Coconut Economy and Rugose Spiralling Whitefly (RSW)\" width=\"424\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=300%2C140&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=1024%2C477&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=768%2C357&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=1536%2C715&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=1568%2C730&amp;ssl=1 1568w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?w=1775&amp;ssl=1 1775w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-354446\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; Mongabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>India<\/strong> is the <strong>third largest coconut-producing country<\/strong> in the world and accounted for about <strong>31.45% of the world\u2019s total production<\/strong> during <strong>FY22<\/strong>, with a production of <strong>19,310 million nuts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>During <strong>FY24<\/strong>, India produced <strong>21,373.62 million nuts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The crop contributed around <strong>US$ 3.72 billion<\/strong> to the country\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) during <strong>FY23.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The coconut palm provides food<strong> security and livelihood opportunities<\/strong> to more than <strong>12 million people<\/strong> in India.<\/li>\n<li>It is also a <strong>fibre-yielding crop<\/strong> for more than <strong>15,000 coir-based industries<\/strong>, employing nearly <strong>6 lakh people<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>productivity<\/strong> of coconuts at a national level for FY24 was at <strong>9,871 nuts per hectare,<\/strong> <strong>one of the highest<\/strong> in the world.<\/li>\n<li>Copra processing, coconut oil extraction and coir manufacturing are the traditional coconut-based activities in the country.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Producing states:<\/strong> India\u2019s coconut production is majorly situated in <strong>Kerala, Karnataka, Tami Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,<\/strong> accounting for <strong>89.13%<\/strong> of the <strong>coconut area<\/strong> and <strong>90.77% of the coconut production in the country<\/strong> during FY24.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Other coconut-producing states<\/strong> in the country are West Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Assam and Bihar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Rugose Spiralling Whitefly (RSW)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Rugose spiralling whitefly is an <strong>invasive sap-sucking insect<\/strong> that attacks <strong>coconut, banana, palm and other crops<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scientific name: <\/strong>RSW is scientifically known <strong>as Aleurodicus rugioperculatus<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Native to: <\/strong>It is native to the <strong>Caribbean and Central America.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Officially recorded in India: <\/strong>RSW was <strong>officially recorded in 2016 at Pollachi in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Key Characteristics<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Appearance:<\/strong> The pest forms <strong>white spiralling patterns on leaves<\/strong> and produces <strong>sticky honeydew<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Life Cycle:<\/strong> It multiplies rapidly under <strong>warm conditions and survives throughout the year.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Feeding:<\/strong> It sucks plant <strong>sap<\/strong>, weakening the tree and reducing growth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Honeydew:<\/strong> The <strong>sticky secretion<\/strong> leads to <strong>black sooty mould<\/strong>, which <strong>blocks photosynthesis<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Concern: <\/strong>RSW causes <strong>heavy yield loss<\/strong>, decline in fruit quality, rising farmer debt and increased pesticide use, while field-level control remains ineffective.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Solution: <\/strong><strong>ICAR-NBAIR identified the parasitoid <\/strong><strong><em>Encarsia guadeloupae<\/em><\/strong><strong>,<\/strong> which caused natural parasitism ranging from 56% to 82%, without the use of chemical pesticides.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ICAR-NBAIR also developed a biocontrol fungus, <\/strong><strong><em>Isaria fumosorosea<\/em><\/strong><strong>,<\/strong> which was effective against all life stages of the pest and recorded pest mortality of up to 91%, significantly reducing crop protection costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: The rugose spiralling whitefly continues to spread across coconut-growing regions in India, causing severe yield losses and rising financial stress for farmers. About India\u2019s Coconut Economy India is the third largest coconut-producing country in the world and accounted for about 31.45% of the world\u2019s total production during FY22, with a production of 19,310 million&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-coconut-economy-and-rugose-spiralling-whitefly-rsw\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">India\u2019s Coconut Economy and Rugose Spiralling Whitefly (RSW)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,3127,11209,12039],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-354445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-economy","category-geography-in-news","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}