Datasets on abundance of common blossom thrips and weather variables in small-scale avocado orchards at Taita Hills and Mount Kilimanjaro

Abstract

Avocado, Persea americana Miller (Lauraceae), is an important fruit crop cultivated by small-holder farmers along Afrotropical highlands of Taita Hills in South-eastern Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro in Northern Tanzania. The small-holder farmers in these East African regions generate substantial food and cash from avocado fruits. However, the avocado crop is faced with challenges of infestation by insect pests such as the common blossom thrips (Frankliniella schultzei Trybom) which feeds on pollen and floral tissue thereby reducing productivity of the trees. Moreover, there is no information describing distribution patterns of Frankliniella schultzei and associated weather in East African avocado orchards despite the fact that small-scale farming is dependent on rainfall. This article was, therefore, initiated to provide dataset on abundance of Frankliniella schultzei from the avocado plants that relates with monthly rainfall and air temperatures at Taita Hills and Mount Kilimanjaro. Frankliniella schultzei was collected using white coloured beating tray and camel brush whereas air temperatures (°C) and rainfall (mm) was recorded daily using automatic data loggers and rain gauge, respectively. The survey at the two transects commenced during peak flowering season of avocado crop in August up to end of harvesting period in July of the following year. Temporal datasets were generated by Kruskal-Wallis Chi-square test. Current temporal datasets presents strong baseline information specifically for Kenya and Tanzania government agencies to develop further agricultural strategies aimed at improving avocado farming within Taita Hills and Mount Kilimanjaro agro-ecosystems. Keywords: Frankliniella schultzei, Avocado, Weather variables, Taita Hills, Mount Kilimanjaro