INTRODUCTION Mango (Mangifera indica L.), is widely acknowledged as ‘King of fruits’ and ‘National fruit of India’ due to its delicious flavour, high nutritional content, and significant socio-economic role. It is an important member of Anacardiaceae family, which is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. The mango fruit is climacteric and increased ethylene production occurs during ripening. Regardless of its tenderness, either mature or ripe, mango fruit has a special significance. Mature green mangos are consume draw or as pickles. Ripened mangoes are processed into juice, squash, leather, jam, jelly (Siddiq et al., 2017). India tops the world in mango production with a total produce of 20.44 million m.t, which is grown in an area of 2.29 million hectares (National Horticulture Board, 2019-20). Mango exports from India in the year 2020-21 fetched 271.87 crore Rupees. Pesticide residues and quarantine pests (mango stone weevil and fruit fly) are the major reasons for notable reduction of exports from previous years (APEDA, 2021). The mango crop is infested with around 260 insect and mite pests appearing at different stages of crop growth (Penna and Mohyuddin 1997). They attack during growth, flowering and fruiting stages which severely hampers the fruit production. To check these pests, farmers generally apply several diverse classes of pesticides. Indiscriminate use of pesticides will show adverse effects on the health of consumers (residues in commodity) and cause resurgence of pests. The load of chemicals on natural ecosystems has increased as a result of the industrialization of agriculture, which endangers the human health and environment (Nicolopoulou-Stamati et al., 2016). However, the positive results of pesticide use indicate that pesticides will remain an essential tool in pest management (Popp et al., 2013). In the wake of this, it becomes important to carry out a survey to know pests and pesticide usage pattern in mango ecosystem. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area. A survey was conducted from December, 2021 to January, 2022 to know the status of pests and pesticide usage practices in commercially grown mango orchards of major mango growing districts of Tamil Nadu viz., Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri (Fig. 1), based on the extent of cultivated area of about 31,176 and 16,509 ha, respectively (GOTN, Dept. of Horticulture). Forty mango farmers spread over in 12 villages were interviewed with a questionnaire (Table 1). Data collection. A pre-structured questionnaire was employed, which sought to evaluate socio-economic, agricultural, and pest management factors at grass root level. Data was collected from 40 farmers through direct face-to-face interviews, using a questionnaire that was prepared in English and translated to local language (Tamil) for the convenience of famers (Fig. 2). The questionnaire was based on famers demographic details, education background, pest status, pesticide usage, source of information on recommended pesticides, attention towards labels, measurement and mixing of pesticide, safety methods followed, dosage of insecticides, type of sprayer used, time of spraying, number of spray, waiting period followed, spray intervals, handling and disposal of pesticide containers. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Demographic factors of surveyed farmers. Demographic factors taken into consideration are age, gender, education, size of land holding, farming experience and family size of mango growers (Table 2). There are more men (92.50%) occupied in mango farming than that of women (7.50%). This finding is in conformity with the findings of Sekar et al. (2014). Regardless of the fact that women's participation in agricultural and production activities are well accepted, practically, only few women farmers have rights with farmlands (Ajani, 2008). The average size of the family of the famers surveyed was 5.09 members. A large household size may indicate that more labour is required to carry out agricultural activities, to perform farm activities, which in turn reduces marketed surplus and prioritises subsistence over commercialization (Von Braun et al., 1994). Majority of the farmers (52.50%) surveyed were in the middle age group (35-50 years), while 40 percent of the farmers fall under old age group (>50 years) and around 7.5 percent belong to young age group (below 35 years). Many of the surveyed farmers (40%) were illiterate and they did not get any formal education, some farmers (17.50%) were educated till primary level and other farmers (22.50%) till secondary education and 17.5 percent farmers were educated till higher secondary level and very few (2.5%) completed their graduation. The abilities and capability to use information are improved by education, which improves awareness of adoption newer technologies. Farmers who are old and illiterate may find it difficult to accept new technologies. Land holding of 37.50 percent of the surveyed farmers was small in size (less than 2.5 acres), while 35 percent of farmers had medium size land (2.5 – 10 acres) land and the rest of the farmers (27.50%) had large size land (more than 10 acres). Majority of the farmers (47.50%) were having high farming experience of more than 10years, some other famers (27.50%) having medium experience (5-10 years), while others (25%) having low experience (less than 5 years). Pest status in mango ecosystem. Various pests were found affecting mango trees across surveyed districts of Tamil Nadu (Table 3), which depicts that the most notorious pest was mango hoppers (100%). Other pests like leaf webber (90%), fruit fly (70%), nut weevil (65%), gall midge (57.5%), mealybug (47.5%), shoot borer (42.5%), stem borer (40%), leaf twisting weevil (37.5%), leaf miner (30%), red banded caterpillar (25%),hairy caterpillar (10%), rugose spiralling whitefly (7.5%), termite (7.5%) and red ant (5%) were also found to cause yield loss (Fig. 3). In Nepal, Ghimire et al. (2019), reported similar findings. In Vietnam, seed borer (Deanolis albizonalis) was found to be the major pest (Mele et al., 2001). According to farmers, pests that damage the flowers are of more importance as they damage inflorescence and that has an impact on the yield. All the farmers in both the districts reported that mango hoppers are infesting mango trees and are causing severe damage. Mango hoppers commonly occurs in the flowering season, suck the sap from the inflorescence and tender shoots and cause damage to the tune of 20- 100% (Sohi and Sohi, 1990). Leaf webber was also reported as a major pest that is inflicting severe damage in the trees by webbing and scraping the leaves. Overall pest incidence was more severe in Dharmapuri. Rugose spiralling whitefly, an invasive pest damaging the leaves was observed from Krishnagiri district. Status of pesticides used in mango ecosystem. The data obtained from the survey revealed that commonly used pesticide for managing pests (Table 4) was imidacloprid (42.5%) followed by malathion (17.5%), dimethoate(15%), thiamethoxam (12.5%), acephate (12.5%), tolfenpyrad (10%), deltamethrin (10%), lambda cyhalothrin (7.5%), quinalphos (10%) and buprofezin (5%). Other combination products used among farmers are acephate (50%) + imidacloprid (7.5%), chlorpyriphos (50%) + cypermethrin (2.5%). Nair, (2018), reported similar results where most of the famers were using imidacloprid against mango hoppers. Among these pesticides, quinalphos, acephate, and combination products which were used to control sucking pests and borers, were actually not recommended for mango pests by Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) of India. Mango is also vulnerable to many diseases like powdery mildew, anthracnose, fruit end rot for which farmers were also found to use fungicides such as carbendazim (15%), dinocap (12.5%) and mancozeb (12.5%) The toxicity profile of various pesticides and fungicides applied in mango ecosystem given in Table 4 was based on World Health Organisation (WHO) system of classification. No farmer was found to spray extremely hazardous (Ia) and highly hazardous pesticides (Ib). Majority of the chemicals applied by farmers fall under class (moderately hazardous group) which comprises imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, dimethoate, acephate, quinalphos, deltamethrin and dinocap, whereas malathion, buprofezin, tolfenpyrad belong to class ⅠⅠⅠ (slightly hazardous group). Carbendazim and mancozeb belong to class U (Unlikely to present acute hazard in normal use). Moreover, WHO has advised only trained individuals to use pesticides (WHO, 1991). Pesticide usage pattern in mango ecosystem. Pesticide usage pattern practices by mango growing farmers (Table 5), shows that the source of information on pesticide recommendation was majorly from pesticide dealers (77.5%), followed by fellow farmers (12.5%) and Governments officials (10%). Similar results were reported by Singh et al. (2016). Majority of the farmers (87.5%) use bottle caps to measure pesticides, while few farmers (12.5%) measured pesticides approximately. Surveyed famers are less equipped when it comes to application of pesticides safely, but all the farmers (100%) are mixing pesticides using a stick. These findings are matching with the previous work done by Devi, (2010). Most of the farmers (87.5%) did not give attention to the label information, only 12.5% are reading the label before use, whereas Rijal et al. (2018) reported 66% of farmers were aware and follow the pesticide label. Only, 17.5% farmers sprayed pesticides at recommended doses, while majority of the farmers (82.5%) sprayed pesticides at approximate amounts. Most of the farmers followed calendar spraying. Irrespective of the pest incidence, they spray three times with an interval of 30 days. These results were in accordance with the findings of Ghimire et al. (2019). Contrastingly, Cubelo and cubelo (2021) reported that majority of the farmers are spraying seven times regardless of season, Mele et al. (2001) reported an average of 13.4 pesticide sprays per year. Only a few farmers (2.5%) practiced burying spent pesticide containers in the ground, whereas the majority of farmers (97.5 percent) disposed of empty pesticide containers in their own fields or in neglected areas. This was in accordance with Prakash et al. (2021). According to the results, majority of farmers (57.5%) were not following any safety precautions during pesticide handling, while 40 percent were wearing a mask and 2.5 percent of them were wearing gloves while pesticide handling. Similar results were reported by Nyakundi et al. (2012); Imane et al. (2016). In contrast, Reddy et al. (2011) reported that all the farmers use face mask while spraying. Rocker sprayer (42.5%) and Foot sprayer (40%) were employed by most of the famers and few farmers were found to be using tractor mounted sprayer (17.5%). In contrast with these findings Ghimire et al. (2019) reported that foot sprayer (86.40%) was used to spray mango trees. About 92.5 percent farmers choose to spray the pesticides in the morning hours, only 7.5 percent famers were spraying at evening hours and no farmer took up spraying at the afternoon time. Around 12.5 percent farmers were not following any waiting period and they harvested fruits following the pesticide application on the same day, while 87.5% farmers followed one day waiting period. None of the farmers followed recommended waiting periods. This finding is in conformity with the findings of Sutharsan et al. (2014). The risk of pesticide residue on produce increased when the pesticide spray was done right before harvest (Jeyanthi and Kombairaju 2005). The result of this study was contrasting with findings of Rijal et al. (2018) who reported spraying interval of 15 days by 42.5 percent farmers, 30 days interval by another 42.5 percent and 15 percent were found to be spraying only when there is pest infestation.