Biocontrol Method Offers Effective Way of Controlling Serious Cabbage Pest

Researchers at the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) said they have developed an effective biocontrol method against the diamondback month or DBM (Plutella xylostella), a pest that ravages cabbage farms in Africa. Cabbages are among the most important vegetables in Africa, particularly among lower income families in Benin. However, destructions by DBM on cabbage farms have forced thousands of farmers in West Africa to abandon cabbage production for other crops. The situation is worsened by the high costs associated with pesticides, such as bifenthrin and deltamethrin that are used to control the pest.

The IITA researchers identified isolates of the entomopathogenic fungi Bauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae that are effective in controlling DBM larvae. Cabbage yield in plots treated with the fungi was approximately three fold higher than the yield in plots treated with the insecticide bifenthrin or in untreated plots, according to the researchers. C. Atcha-Ahowe, researcher at the IITA, said that farmers that abandoned cabbage cultivation for other crops are now requesting the biopesticide to make a come back.

The new biocontrol strategy might prove to be more effective than synthetic pesticides in controlling the pest. The DBM has the capacity to quickly develop resistance against chemical control. Indeed, in recent years, chemical control of moth is proving ineffective, according to farmer Louis Awandjinou, who has been cultivating the crop since 1986.

The original article is available at http://www.iita.org/cms/details/news_summary.aspx?articleid=2810&zoneid=342