I refer to Baliram Persaud’s letter in the Stabroek News Thursday, June 7, 2012. Captioned:”Still no solution in sight to solving the mystery parasite problem on Region 2 farm”. The word “pest or parasite “refers to any unwanted plants (weeds).animals (e.g. insects) or disease causing organism, which adversely affects man, his animals, and crops among other things.
According to Mr. Baliram Persaud, the problem which is very detrimental to him is not being taken seriously, considering that up to now there has been no response from anyone within the ministry’s head office or even at the Anna Regina department in the district.
There are four basic principles governing pest and parasite management. The correct identification of the problem, exclusion of the pest, i.e. keeping it out of the production area, protection of plants against the pest and reducing the pest population.
Correct identification of the problem is the first step in proper and effective pest and parasite management; determining what is causing the problem would point to what treatment, if any, should be applied. According to Mr. Persaud,the parasite is in the soil eating out the bark of grown-up plants which later succumb. This parasite can be a vector for hoja blanca,a viral disease that is common in Brazil,Suriname,Colombia,Argentina and other South American countries. The hoppers can be found at the base of the plantain during early stages of infestation; localised infested plants dry up due to decamping by nymphs and adults and the plants eventually die. Localised areas assume a brown appearance, referred to as “hopper burn” when there is a cluster of hoppers in that area.
The following insecticides are recommended against the hoppers:
Trebon (etofenprox) Padan (cartap hydrochloride) Preliminary results indicate 150ml/ac of etonfenprox (Trebon 20 EC) is highly effective against this parasite.Always seek advice from agriculture personnel when acquiring planting materals,e.g.seeds,suckers,slips,seedlings etc from other farmers or doubtful sources.