DATE: 3/16/05

CONTACT: Dr. Merle Shepard, (843) 402-5398

WRITER: Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343, ext. 241

Clemson scientists to develop IPM plans for S.E. Asian veggies, cocoa

CHARLESTON – Clemson University scientists are working on plans to help enhance production of vegetables and cocoa pods in the Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia and the Philippines through the use of integrated pest management techniques.

Clemson is one of nine partners in a Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by Virginia Tech, according to Merle Shepard, entomologist at Clemson University’s Coastal Research and Education Center at Charleston.

The five-year program is designed to improve crop yields through ecologically sound practices for people in developing nations around the world. IPM programs will be established in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and elsewhere.

“Clemson’s focus will be on cocoa in the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia and vegetables on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines,” said Shepard. He and two other Clemson faculty members -- entomologist Gerald Carner and agricultural economist Mike Hammig – will visit the two areas where they are proposing projects in May.

“We’ll identify our potential collaborators and make an overall assessment of crop production and the use of pesticides,” said Shepard.

Sixty percent of the world’s cocoa is produced in Indonesia, where a pest called the cocoa pod borer can cause 30-40 percent yield loss.

“More than 70,000 people in the United States are employed in the chocolate industry, so control of the borer has implications for them and for chocolate lovers as well,” said Shepard.

He said that the USAID program will benefit both developing countries and the land grant institutions like Clemson that are involved.

“Half of any grant funds awarded will be spent on research projects here,” he said. In previous USAID programs, seven Ph. D. students from Indonesia and one from Ghana have done their research through Clemson, working on problems faced by South Carolina farmers.

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