Programme focuses on managing CPB

A NEW insect pest management programme is being proposed to manage and control the cocoa pod borer (CPB) in the country, according to the Papua New Guinea Cocoa board.
PNG Cocoa board business development manager Dr Samuel Laup said the sterile insect technique was the first of its kinds to be introduced for the management of a serious economic pest on an important agricultural commodity.
“The sterile insect technique was the first type of insect pest management involving insect genetics for population control and it can be applied only to pest species that reproduce by sexual means,” he said.
“It is effective only if the sexually sterile males are aggressive and successfully compete with wild males in searching for and mating with indigenous females.
“The method should be used only when a thorough knowledge has been acquired of the biology, ecology and behaviour of the targeted pest species.”
Laup said the sterile insect technique could be considered a form of birth control.
“In its application, the targeted pest species is mass-reared, sexually sterilised and distributed over the range of the pest population being targeted.”
Laup said the aim of the project was to successfully breed sufficient laboratory-reared sterile CPB adults, which would be released into an infested cocoa growing area, to outcompete with the indigenous male cocoa pod borer population in mating, producing sterile eggs, resulting in the possible extinction or eradication of targeted population.
“This will be carried as a collaborative project between the research, extension and development (REDS) or now under PNG Cocoa board through the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL), with financial assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he said.
“The project will assist the country in effectively implementing systematic and long term CPB management through collated basic knowledge of the growth and development of CPB within cocoa pod borer insects and enable better management protocol to be formulated in the future.”
Laup said specific work would be spearheaded by scientists from REDS under the jurisdictive administrative function of PNG Cocoa board in collaboration with DAL.