Soroush Parsa

Obstacles to integrated pest management adoption in developing countries

Significance Integrated pest management (IPM) has been the dominant crop protection paradigm promoted globally since the 1960s. However, its adoption by developing country farmers is surprisingly low. This article reports 51 potential reasons why, identified and prioritized by hundreds of IPM professionals and practitioners around the world. Stakeholders from developing countries prioritized different adoption obstacles than those from high-income countries. Surprisingly, a few of the obstacles prioritized in developing countries appear to be overlooked by the literature. We suggest that a more vigorous analysis and discussion of the factors discouraging IPM adoption in developing countries may accelerate the progress needed to bring about its full potential. Despite its theoretical prominence and sound principles, integrated pest management (IPM) continues to suffer from anemic adoption rates in developing countries. To shed light on the reasons, we surveyed the opinions of a large and diverse pool of IPM professionals and practitioners from 96 countries by using structured concept mapping. The first phase of this method elicited 413 open-ended responses on perceived obstacles to IPM. Analysis of responses revealed 51 unique statements on obstacles, the most frequent of which was “insufficient training and technical support to farmers.” Cluster analyses, based on participant opinions, grouped these unique statements into six themes: research weaknesses, outreach weaknesses, IPM weaknesses, farmer weaknesses, pesticide industry interference, and weak adoption incentives. Subsequently, 163 participants rated the obstacles expressed in the 51 unique statements according to importance and remediation difficulty. Respondents from developing countries and high-income countries rated the obstacles differently. As a group, developing-country respondents rated “IPM requires collective action within a farming community” as their top obstacle to IPM adoption. Respondents from high-income countries prioritized instead the “shortage of well-qualified IPM experts and extensionists.” Differential prioritization was also evident among developing-country regions, and when obstacle statements were grouped into themes. Results highlighted the need to improve the participation of stakeholders from developing countries in the IPM adoption debate, and also to situate the debate within specific regional contexts.

The Cassava Mealybug (Phenacoccus manihoti) in Asia: First Records, Potential Distribution, and an Identification Key

Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), one of the most serious pests of cassava worldwide, has recently reached Asia, raising significant concern over its potential spread throughout the region. To support management decisions, this article reports recent distribution records, and estimates the climatic suitability for its regional spread using a CLIMEX distribution model. The article also presents a taxonomic key that separates P. manihoti from all other mealybug species associated with the genus Manihot. Model predictions suggest P. manihoti imposes an important, yet differential, threat to cassava production in Asia. Predicted risk is most acute in the southern end of Karnataka in India, the eastern end of the Ninh Thuan province in Vietnam, and in most of West Timor in Indonesia. The model also suggests P. manihoti is likely to be limited by cold stress across Vietnams northern regions and in the entire Guangxi province in China, and by high rainfall across the wet tropics in Indonesia and the Philippines. Predictions should be particularly important to guide management decisions for high risk areas where P. manihoti is absent (e.g., India), or where it has established but populations remain small and localized (e.g., South Vietnam). Results from this article should help decision-makers assess site-specific risk of invasion, and develop proportional prevention and surveillance programs for early detection and rapid response.

A novel method to scale up fungal endophyte isolations

Studies involving fungal endophytes very often rely on surface-sterilisation of plant samples to enable endophyte isolations. However, surface-sterilisation can be very time-consuming, potentially limiting the number of samples processed. To overcome this limitation, a novel method was developed to bulk surface-sterilise multiple plant tissue samples simultaneously and separately. The method relies on 24 perforated Falcon™ tubes, each containing a sample, sequentially transferred through a series of containers holding the sterilants. The samples that can be surface-sterilised using this method include roots, stems and leaves or entire seedlings. This method increased our throughput by a factor of 24 relative to conventional surface-sterilisation methods.

Root environment is a key determinant of fungal entomopathogen endophytism following seed treatment in the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris

Highlights • Beauveria bassiana and M. anisopliae applied as seed treatment in common beans.• Both fungal entomopathogens become endophytic, with low colonization levels (<30%).• There was high variability in endophytic colonization.• Endophytism influenced by status of soil substrate used (sterile or non-sterile).

Molecular determination of the predator community of a cassava whitefly in Colombia: pest-specific primer development and field validation

In South America, the whitefly Aleurotrachelus socialis is one of the principal pests of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), reaching high population levels throughout the Andean region. Management of this species is primarily based upon the use of insecticides, while biological control has received limited attention. Till present, knowledge of A. socialis natural enemies is restricted to occasional records of predators and parasitoids. In this study, we developed PCR primer sets specific for the cassava whitefly, A. socialis, to identify their predator community in Colombian cassava. Eleven percent of 586 predator specimens (representing 131 taxa from 29 families) tested positive for cassava whitefly DNA. Of the 21 predator taxa that consumed cassava whiteflies, an unidentified netwing beetle (Lycidae), an unidentified spider species (Araneae), Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a Cereaochrysa sp. (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), and a Leucochrysa sp. (Chrysopidae) were the taxa that consumed cassava whiteflies most frequently under field conditions. Two abundant predators in the system, Delphastus sp. (Coccinellidae) and the long-legged fly, Condylostylus sp. (Diptera: Dolichopodidae), were both positive for whitefly DNA, but did not have the strongest trophic linkage to the pest relative to other predators. This study shows that a diverse predator community affects cassava whitefly in southern Colombia, and provides the groundwork for the design of cassava production systems with minimal pesticide inputs.

A geographic distribution database of Mononychellus mites (Acari, Tetranychidae) on cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Abstract The genus Mononychellus is represented by 28 herbivorous mites. Some of them are notorious pests of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), a primary food crop in the tropics. With the exception of Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar), their geographic distribution is not widely known. This article therefore reports observational and specimen-based occurrence data of Mononychellus species associated with cassava. The dataset consists of 1,513 distribution records documented by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) between 1975 and 2012. The specimens are held at CIAT’s Arthropod Reference Collection (CIATARC). Most of the records are from the genus’ native range in South America and were documented between 1980 and 2000. Approximately 61% of the records belong to M. tanajoa, 25% to M. caribbeanae (McGregor), 10% to M. mcgregori (Flechtmann and Baker) and 2% to M. planki (McGregor). The complete dataset is available in Darwin Core Archive format via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Potential geographic distribution of two invasive cassava green mites

The cassava green mites Mononychellus tanajoa and M. mcgregori are highly invasive species that rank among the most serious pests of cassava globally. To guide the development of appropriate risk mitigation measures preventing their introduction and spread, this article estimates their potential geographic distribution using the maximum entropy approach to distribution modeling. We compiled 1,232 occurrence records for M. tanajoa and 99 for M. mcgregori, and relied on the WorldClim climate database as a source of environmental predictors. To mitigate the potential impact of uneven sampling efforts, we applied a distance correction filter resulting in 429 occurrence records for M. tanajoa and 55 for M. mcgregori. To test for environmental biases in our occurrence data, we developed models trained and tested with records from different continents, before developing the definitive models using the full record sets. The geographically-structured models revealed good cross-validation for M. tanajoa but not for M. mcgregori, likely reflecting a subtropical bias in M. mcgregori’s invasive range in Asia. The definitive models exhibited very good performance and predicted different potential distribution patterns for the two species. Relative to M. tanajoa, M. mcgregori seems better adapted to survive in locations lacking a pronounced dry season, for example across equatorial climates. Our results should help decision-makers assess the site-specific risk of cassava green mite establishment, and develop proportional risk mitigation measures to prevent their introduction and spread. These results should be particularly timely to help address the recent detection of M. mcgregori in Southeast Asia.

A geographic distribution database of the Neotropical cassava whitefly complex (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) and their associated parasitoids and hyperparasitoids (Hymenoptera).

Abstract Whiteflies (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) are represented by more than 1,500 herbivorous species around the world. Some of them are notorious pests of cassava (Manihot esculenta), a primary food crop in the tropics. Particularly destructive is a complex of Neotropical cassava whiteflies whose distribution remains restricted to their native range. Despite their importance, neither their distribution, nor that of their associated parasitoids, is well documented. This paper therefore reports observational and specimen-based occurrence records of Neotropical cassava whiteflies and their associated parasitoids and hyperparasitoids. The dataset consists of 1,311 distribution records documented by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) between 1975 and 2012. The specimens are held at CIAT’s Arthropod Reference Collection (CIATARC, Cali, Colombia). Eleven species of whiteflies, 14 species of parasitoids and one species of hyperparasitoids are reported. Approximately 66% of the whitefly records belong to Aleurotrachelus socialis and 16% to Bemisia tuberculata. The parasitoids with most records are Encarsia hispida, Amitus macgowni and Encarsia bellottii for Aleurotrachelus socialis; and Encarsia sophia for Bemisia tuberculata. The complete dataset is available in Darwin Core Archive format via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).