DATE: October 13, 2008

CONTACT: Merle Shepard, 843-402-5393
mshprd@clemson.edu

WRITER: Peter Hull, 843-554-7226, ext. 118
phull@clemson.edu

Clemson scientists help identify first occurrence of papaya mealybug in Indonesia

CHARLESTON — Three Clemson researchers are working to contain the papaya mealybug, an emerging threat from India to Indonesia and the Caribbean that if uncontained could present a serious economic threat to agriculture.

As part of the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program, or IPM CRSP, entomologists Merle Shepard and Gerry Carner and economist Mike Hammig in May traveled to the Bogor Botanical Gardens in Bogor, Indonesia, to collect specimens of suspected mealybug infestation of a papaya tree.

R. “Muni” Muniappan of Virginia Tech and Robert Hedlund of USAID also were part of the survey team.

Those samples were later confirmed to be the papaya mealybug, an insect found in moist, warm climates. It marked the first occurrence of papaya mealybug in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

Non-treatment could result in economic disaster for the region, Shepard said.

“It’s a really destructive pest,” he said. “It’s going to undoubtedly take out hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of dollars of papaya.”

Papaya is considered an exotic fruit in many parts of the world, but it plays an important role in everyday life.

For example, papain, a product of papaya, is used in the production of chewing gum, shampoo, toothpaste and tooth whiteners; as a meat tenderizer; and in the brewing and textile industries. In many tropical countries, papaya is an important commercial crop and a key component of the daily diet.

If left uncontained, mealybug will infest all parts of the young leaves and fruits of the papaya plant, and mostly along the veins and mid-rib of older leaves. Young leaves become crinkly and older leaves turn yellow, drying up prematurely.

Such is the mealybug’s threat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed a biological control program after the pest endangered the horticultural industry in Florida. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, has identified three parasitoids that are being cultured in a laboratory in Puerto Rico.

The program already has proved effective across the Caribbean and in South America.

Shepard will travel to the Philippines in December to determine if the pest has spread further. In the meantime, the IPM CRSP team is awaiting the go-ahead to begin treatment in Indonesia.

“It’s a success story waiting to happen,” Shepard said.

Miriam Rich of Virginia Tech contributed to this report.

 END

About IPM CRSP
Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP) works to reduce damage caused by pests to an acceptable level without harming the environment. The program is supported by a grant from USAID and managed by the Office of International Research, Education and Development at Virginia Tech.

Program collaborators are: Gerry Carner, Mike Hammig and Merle Shepard of Clemson University; Aunu Rauf of Bogor Agricultural University in Bogor, Indonesia; and Yulu Xia of North Carolina State University.