India - Battle against pest attack on tapioca remains grounded, Namakkal farmers in a fix

By S Guruvanmikanathan

Despite the import of a parasitoid to control mealybug pest attack on tapioca, its use is delayed due to a lack of labs in the State to multiply the organism.

Bengaluru-based National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) has imported the parasitoid from Benin, a West African country. However, according to Deputy Director of Horticulture K Ganesan, there are not enough labs to multiply it.

In Tamil Nadu, tapioca is cultivated in over 60,000 hectares in Namakkal, Salem, Erode, Dharmapuri and Kallakurichi districts. In Namakkal, it is cultivated in 20,000 hectares. In recent times, farmers are struggling to control mealybug infestation. According to Horticulture department data, over 5,000 hectares are affected in Namakkal. Though NBAIR is multiplying the parasitoid at its research centre, it has yet to be introduced in farmlands.

Namakkal Deputy Director of Horticulture K Ganesan told TNIE, "The impact of natural enemies to the infectious bugs can not be manipulated on a large scale by farmers. Hence, the research centre is engaged in the drive. Horticulture officials from Tamil Nadu also have participated in the training programme organised by the Centre twice. The mealybug, unlike other pests, does not lay eggs en masse. It lays a single egg at a time. Hence, a trial on the field is not feasible. Hence, multiplying them under lab conditions becomes essential."

As the Horticulture department has no lab facility, it could be set up by either Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) or Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU), he said. After the training programme was over, the ground reality would be explained to the State government which would decide the further course of action, the official added.