LUCKNOW, May 16 -- Days after reports of a bountiful and luscious mango crop in the state this year, experts at the Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH) have said that the crop is under threat from not just one but two insect species.

Experts have confirmed a growing infestation of two dangerous pests, the fruit borer (joda keet) and the leaf-cutting semilooper which could spoil the flavour and beauty of this year's mango harvest.

According to Dr T Damodaran, director of the ICAR-Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (ICAR-CISH) in Rehmankheda, the insects are damaging mangoes from the inside out. "These pests bore holes in ripening mangoes, causing them to rot, fall prematurely, and lose market value. Meanwhile,...