International Journal of Environmental & Agriculture Research (IJOEAR) ISSN:[2454-1850] [Vol-2, Issue-10, October- 2016] Page | 14 Control of Mites and Thrips and its Impact on the Yield of Avocado cv. “Hass” in Filo de Caballos, Guerrero, Mexico Domingo Cantú-Díaz 1 , Elías Hernandez-Castro 2 , Agustín Damián-Nava 3 , Héctor Sotelo-Nava 4 , Gabriel Otero-Colina 5 , Francisco Palemon-Alberto 6 , Oscar Gabriel Villegas-Torres 7 , Araceli Chino-Cantor 8 1,2 Maestría en Ciencias Agropecuarias y Gestión Local de la UAGro. Km. 2.5 Carr. Iguala-Tuxpan, Iguala, Gro. 3,6 Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Ambientales de la UAGro. Carretera Iguala-Tuxpan, Iguala de la Independencia, Guerrero, km 2.5. Privada de Petatlán, 8, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, Iguala de la Independencia, Guerrero. C. P. 40011 4,7 Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos. Cuernavaca, Morelos 5 Colegio de Postgraduados, Campus Montecillo, programa de Fitosanidad. Texcoco, Estado de México. 8 Unidad Académica en Desarrollo Sustentable, Campus Costa Grande, UAGro. Carretera Nacional Acapulco-Zihuatanejo Km 106 + 900, Colonia Las Tunas, Tecpan de Galeana, Guerrero, México. C. P. 40900. Abstract— For social and economic reasons Avocado is an important crop; however, some arthropods, of which mites are especially important, can limit its production, as is the case in the state of Guerrero. In order to determine which treatment is the best for controlling these pests, an experiment was carried out in Filo de Caballos, Guerrero, where five treatments were applied, together with an absolute control. Sampling was continuous, and the mites found in each treatment were counted. The treatment was applied when the economic threshold of 10 mites/leaf/tree was reached. The best treatments for controlling mites were T1 (abamectin and azadirachtin), and T3 (abamectin and imidacloprid), with 8 and 10 applications each. The population of thrips never reached the economic threshold; their densities were low throughout the experiment. Treatments 4, 1, 3, 2, and 5 had higher weights and they were classified into the “Extra” caliber. The fruits with the greatest length were those from treatments 4, 1, 3, 2 and 5, ordered decreasingly according to their size. Regarding fruit quality, the differences were not well marked among the treatments. The choice of control to be used is left to the farmers; however, it is necessary to remember that there are alternatives to the control of mites and thrips that help to increase caliber, size, and fruit quality. Keywords— Avocado, Oligonychus punicae, Oligonychus perseae. I. INTRODUCTION The avocado (Persea americana Mill.) cv. “Hass” is the most widely grown cultivar in the world, and Mexico is its most important producer [1]. In Mexico, the state of Michoacán is the main producer, and the state of Guerrero is in sixth place according to its production. The total cultivated surface in 2012 in Mexico was 141,408 ha, of which 127,668 ha were harvested and had a production of 1,265,669 t, with a yield of 9.91 t•ha -1 [2]. The world production of avocado increased by 550,000 t in the last 15 years. It has a large market because it can be consumed fresh and in its processed forms, such as guacamole, frozen pulp, and paste [3]. Avocado production is an important source of jobs and me in the state, because its cultivated surface has increased in the last few years; however, its trade is affected by the attack of pests. The damages are manifested as yield losses and low fruit quality [4]. In 2009 CESAVEGRO identified two quarantine pests for avocadosin the state of Guerrero: the large avocado seed borer (Heilipus lauri Boheman), and the stem borer (Copturus aguacatae Kissinger); in the locality of Filo de Caballos; however, these pests have not been identified as a potential threat. The pests that are considered important due to the damage they cause are thrips, the spider mite (Oligonychus punicae Hirst), and the persea mite (Oligonychus perseae Tuttle, Baker and Abbatiello) [5]. High population densities of mites on avocado trees produce partial or total defoliation, which increases the risk of sunburn in young fruits, and also fruit abortion, which reduces yield [6], [7], [8]. Due to this situation, the objectives of this work were to evaluate several products to control thrips, spider mites and persea mites; and to increase yield and fruit quality.