Workshop Outlines Plan to Increase Fight the Devastating Papaya Mealybug Pest in More Locations Across Uganda
13 September 2024, Sudan: CABI is working in partnership with colleagues in Uganda to help increase the fight in more districts against the potentially devastating papaya mealybug pest which is threatening smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and food security across the country.
Integrated pest management (IPM) experts from CABI’s regional centre for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, convened a workshop with partners from the National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) to explore classical biological control of papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) and how to integrate gender during the implementation of project activities.
The work is being carried out part of the ‘Protecting Biodiversity through Biocontrol of Papaya Mealybug in East Africa’ project, funded by the Darwin Initiative, and the CABI-led PlantwisePlus programme which aims to help farmers be prepared for crop pests and take a more sustainable approach to managing them.
Effective biological control agent to mitigate papaya mealybug
Dr Benson Mutuku, CABI’s Gender Coordinator, Africa, was among staff who presented to stakeholders on how the encyrtid wasp Acerophagus papayae could prove to be an effective biological control agent to mitigate papaya mealybug – which is also known locally as kifampa.
This presentation included the integration of gender using participatory tools and the need for men and women participation at all levels of production. The first tool used was differentiated sex and gender and the second tool demonstrated the roles clarification and the need for women to be engaged at all levels of decision making.
The workshop described how to rear A. papayae and it is hoped that this could soon be used to help smallholder farmers blighted the papaya mealybug in Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Kamuli, Hoima, Wakiso and Masaka districts.
Last year, CABI scientists investigated farming practices and management options for pests and diseases of papaya in eight locations across Uganda. These included Lira, Kayunga, Mukono, Ntungamo, Luwero, Masaka and Mpigi.
The research team determined that papaya is a major cash crop in Uganda, that Kigenge is widely spread in all the survey districts but with more infestation in Kayunga and Mukono, that commercial farmers are using more pesticides (especially in Kayunga) but that non-commercial farmers are doing nothing to manage the disease at all.
The research team determined that papaya is a major cash crop in Uganda, that kifampa is widely spread in all the survey districts but with more infestation in Kayunga and Mukono, that commercial farmers are using more pesticides (especially in Kayunga) but that non-commercial farmers are doing nothing to manage the disease at all.
Kayunga, Mukono and Luwero were the pilot districts for the biological control of the papaya mealybug using the Acephagus Papayae parasitoid and this has proved a successful initiative.
Papaya mealybug has been estimated to have caused 57% yield losses worth £2,224/ha each year between 2016 to 2020 in East Africa.
The pest is native to Central America but has spread rapidly in invaded countries. It was first detected in Uganda in 2021 where it has the potential to affect the production and quality of papaya and other host crops.
Kifampa has added to the woes of smallholder farmers
Dr Mutuku delivered a training on gender terms and the role that gender plays in farming households. He highlighted the different roles that men and women play in papaya farming and urged the lead farmers to involve their partners and children in biological control practices for the papaya mealybug.
Dr Mutuku said that women and men should be facilitated to participate and benefit from the biological control activities of the papaya mealybug since they are highly involved in activities such as scouting, land preparation and harvesting of the papaya. The workshop also resulted in drafting of workplans on how to integrate gender during implementation of the project activities and beyond.
Meanwhile kifampa has added to the woes of smallholder farmers with crop yields also significantly reduced with seasons cut from an average of four to one and the general lifespan of orchards.
Root-rot was also found to be common, especially in the central district of Uganda.
Dr Mutuku said there is a need to keep on raising awareness of how to recognise pests and diseases on papaya as well as how to mitigate them sustainably as part of an IPM approach that also considers the role women and youth play on the farm.
Sustainable ways to its control without an overreliance on chemical pesticides
Dr Mutuku said, “Previous CABI-led study found that knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of farmers about classical biological control of papaya mealybug revealed that 85% of farmers viewed the encyrtid wasp release positively, and most (94%) would support the biological control programme in their community.
“The latest workshop was an opportunity to renew efforts to train stakeholders in the recognition of pests and diseases of papaya – including the papaya mealybug – as well as sustainable ways to its control without an overreliance on chemical pesticides. It also highlighted how gender can be integrated during the day-to-day activities of papaya farming.”
The work CABI is carrying out in Uganda is also in conjunction with the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF). CABI is also working to help mitigate the papaya mealybug problem together with authorities in Kenya and South Sudan.
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