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Pink Mealybug Coordinating Unit
In July
1997, funding was approved for the creation and operation of the Pink Mealybug
Coordinating Unit. The overall goal of the Unit was to bring the pest under
control, and have trade resuscitated. The Unit however only became functional in
January 1998 and at December 1999 had been allocated G$90.8 M of the
G$90.9 M which had been approved for the 18 months period. The main
trust of the Unit's programme has been:
Various
forms of public awareness exercises supported these core activities. All
activities were conducted under three programme areas, viz. Surveys and
Information, Pest Management, and Public Awareness One major
development during the year was the invasion of commercial farms by the mealybug,
thus rendering produce of the affected crops unmarketable. This caused the Unit
to initiate studies to find an effective pesticide that would be compatible with
the use of biological control. These studies are ongoing. Generally,
pink mealybug populations were maintained at very low levels with the use of
natural enemies, primarily the parasitic wasp, Anagyrus
kamali. Contact us at "pmbcu@networksgy.com" |
