Tanzania: Destructive crop disease emerges
According to a statement made available to 'Daily News', this pest has been identified by scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), as the pawpaw mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus).
"In Tanzania we have observed the pests along the coastal belt around Dar es Salaam and its environs, mostly on pawpaw, cassava and ornamental plants such as hibiscus and frangipani.
"But we need to carry out a survey throughout the country to determine the full extent of spread and the range of plants affected," said Dr James, Legg, IITA entomologist.
Dr Legg and one of the scientists who is leading the efforts to contain the pest after first noticing the pest's damage in his home garden, said the pawpaw mealybug is currently one of the most destructive and rapidly spreading invasive insect species.
"Samples sent to IITA's Biological Control Centre for Africa, located in Cotonou, Benin, have been positively identified as the pawpaw mealybug by the Institute's entomologist Dr Georg Goergen.
"Now that we know what we are dealing with we need to act fast. The pest can easily spread throughout the East African region, causing major damage and threatening the food security and incomes of tens of thousands of Tanzanian farmers," he said.
These mealbugs are tiny, white, flat insects which sap the life out of the plants. Their preferred host are pawpaw, but the insects also affect a wide range of crops including cassava, beans, coffee, pepper, melon, guava, tomato, eggplant, cotton, and jatropha.
Therefore, if not controlled, the pest may result in massive damage and loss of livelihoods for many farmers in the country.
The pawpaw mealbugs appear as white fluffy spots on the undersides of leaves, branches, and fruit, and are often accompanied by an unsightly black, sticky substance coating these surfaces―this is a result of a sugary excretion by the pests which attracts mold.
The affected plants don't grow properly and farmers are unable to sell the often misshapen, discolored and in severe cases, completely shriveled fruits.
The mealybugs are easily blown by the wind or transported by ants from one plant to another and are transported longer distances by people who unknowingly carry infested plants or fruit from one part of the country to another or from country to country.
Source: allafrica.com/