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Tomato pest tuta absoluta appears in Namibia
Nov. 18, 2016
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Tuta absoluta, a pest that damages tomato plants, potatoes, egg plant and green pepper has been detected in Namibia, players in the horticulture industry confirmed this week. The pest originates from South America and has been spreading through African countries of late.
In a letter to farmers, Starke Ayres Namibia said the bug has been detected on tomato plants in Namibia.
The letter said Clinton Krull, a tomato specialist from Starke Ayres in East London, South Africa visited Windhoek on 10 September to meet the farmers and assess the damage. “It became clear that this is not an isolated case, but a full-blown outbreak of Tuta absoluta around the Grootfontein area,” the letter said.
In a separate interview, Charles Krone, general manager at Starke Ayres Namibia said the outbreak was very serious and that the disease has now spread to the south of the country. He said although the outbreak may affect tomato supply, it can be contained if farmers take the necessary measures to stop its spread.
“If the bug cannot find tomato plants, it moves to potatoes, egg plants and green pepper plants,” said Krone.
Manjo Krige, a horticulturalist at the Namibian Agronomic Board, told The Namibian that if it goes unmanaged, the disease can lead to 100% loss as it happened in Nigeria.
She said so far the outbreak has not affected tomato imports from South Africa. “No, we do not expect shortages. The disease can still be controlled.”
Eddie Hasheela, an official in the agriculture ministry said that the ministry was preparing to make an announcement on the outbreak soon.
The department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in South Africa recently announced that the first Tuta absoluta, commonly known as the Tomato Leaf Miner, had been detected in the eastern parts of Mpumalanga province.
This pest is disastrous particularly for tomato production and food security in general, the department said.
The pest spread from South America to Europe in 2006 and across to northern Africa. Since then, it has spread throughout the Middle East to India. It was reported in Kenya and Tanzania in 2014 and from September 2016 in Zambia.
The department has been closely monitoring the spread of this pest across the world and has proactively initiated emergency actions to register agrochemicals to prepare for a rapid response to any possible outbreak of this pest in South Africa.
“This pest cannot be completely eradicated, however, it can be contained and suppressed to lower population levels,” the department said.
Under poor control measures, Tuta absoluta can cause up to 100% loss of tomatoes and could also, to a lesser extent, affect potatoes.
The biggest challenge with this pest is that it can develop resistance to chemicals within a single season.
According to the department, the pest has brought great economic devastation in several countries in Latin America and the Mediterranean basin. Its primary host is tomato, although potato, aubergine, common bean, physalis and various wild solanaceous plants are also suitable hosts.
Infestation of tomato plants occurs throughout the entire crop cycle. Feeding damage is caused by all larval instars and throughout the whole plant.
Source: The Namibian
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