Models for Minimizing Risks of Dangerous Pests: The Pink Hibiscus Mealybug and Papaya Mealybug

Dale E. Meyerdirk and Lionel Wayne De Chi

No 256589, 39th Annual Meeting, July 13-18, 2003, Grenada, West Indies from Caribbean Food Crops Society

Abstract: The pink hibiscus mealybug (PHM), Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), and the papaya mealybug (PM), Paracoccus marginatus Williams & Granara de Willink, biological control programs were cooperatively developed in the Caribbean by various local and international agencies and organizations. Both programs served as models of proactive program action in the early stages of each invasive pest's introduction into a Caribbean island, and for minimizing losses to the U.S. and neighboring countries. The biological control technology for the PHM developed in St. Kitts and Nevis, W.I., between 1995 and 1997, has been successfully transferred within the last six years to the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Belize, California, and most recently to Florida, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. The PM biological control technology developed in the Dominican Republic in 1999 has been transferred to Puerto Rico, Florida, Bahamas, and Guam within the last four years. In both programs, the introduction of exotic parasitoid species resulted in mealybug population density reductions ranging from 82 to 97%. Early program development allowed for swift technology transfer to newly infested islands and to the U.S. Mainland (California and Florida) within thirty days of being found infested. This swift transfer in turn significantly reduced the potentially high rate of geographical dispersal and averted disastrous economic losses in the Caribbean countries, and in the U.S. and its island territories.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 10
Date: 2003-07-13
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:cfcs03:256589

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.256589

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