When CIAT’s Kris Wyckhuys and Bogor Agricultural University’s Aunu Rauf unleashed around 3,000 tiny parasitic wasps into a field cage in Indonesia in September, little could they have imagined the big news these tiny creatures would whip up. From the Financial Times, Bloomberg TV and the Wall Street Journal to local language outlets like Kompas, an international audience wanted to know what this “SWAT team”,Read More …
It might be an abuse of artistic license, but 2012 might well be remembered as the first International Year of Cassava – in all but name. That’s because this year has already witnessed a sea change in the way the world regards this long-neglected crop. And it’s about time really: cassava feeds half-a-billion people in Africa every day, andRead More …
CIAT entomologist Tony Bellotti gives an illuminating update on the cassava mealybug situation in Southeast Asia, and shares his thoughts on the importance of developing an Integrated Pest Management strategy to protect cassava farmers from this and other emerging pest and disease threats in the region. Click to watch.
News broadcaster CNN lists the release of parasitic wasp Anagyrus Lopezi to tackle Thailand’s devastating cassava mealybug outbreak as one of its Seven stories that changed Bangkok in 2010. Click to read more about the ambitious work of the Thai Department of Agriculture, the Thai Tapioca Development Institute, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and CIAT in swiftly diagnosingRead More …
Thai cassava farmers came prepared for the official release of a swarm of parasitic wasps, which it is hoped will help the country tackle a devastating cassava mealybug epidemic. Some of them brought containers to collect their own samples of the tiny Anagyrus lopezi wasps. Around 400 farmers attended the release ceremony in northeastern Thailand on Saturday (July 18th),Read More …
The release of South American parasitic wasps by the Thai Department of Agriculture to tackle an infestation of cassava mealybugs received wide international media interest over the weekend, which continues today. CIAT was closely involved in diagnosing the Thai mealybug outbreaks and issuing emergency guidenlines to contain them, as well as being part of the team that collected theRead More …
Eco-efficient South American wasp to seek-and-destroy mealybug plague A carefully crafted emergency campaign is underway to thwart a pest outbreak wreaking havoc on cassava production in Thailand. Agricultural researchers from the Thai Department of Agriculture will release around a quarter of a million parasitic wasps in the northeastern part of the country tomorrow (July 17), as a form ofRead More …
Disclaimer: Las opiniones aqu� publicadas solo comprometen a sus autores y no representan al CIAT.
