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Important int’l collaboration with UOG researcher
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Posted on Dec 07 2011
The value of research conducted at the University of Guam Western Pacific Tropical Research Center is appreciated locally and internationally. WPTRC chemical ecologist and entomologist Gadi V. P. Reddy was recently invited to Okinawa, Japan to give the keynote lecture at a symposium sponsored by the NARO Kyushu Okinawa Agricultural Research Center to discuss strategic studies for the eradication of sweetpotato weevils in infested regions.
Dr. Reddy’s studies on the management of sweet potato weevils (Cylas formicarius) in Guam are significant in that he is searching for the right formula to control this insect without the use of toxic pesticides. However, in addition to C. formicarius there are two other weevil pests (Euscepes postfasciatus and Daealus tuberosus) causing damage in the field and storage (post-harvest) in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Using Integrated Pest Management techniques with pheromones as lures and pathogens for control of the weevil, Reddy’s team is looking to make sweet potato production a more viable crop for regional farmers.
“Combining semiochemicals and microbial pests is an environmentally safe alternative to the use of pesticides in controlling weevil infestations,” said Reddy.
Reddy’s research team conducted trials to determine the best trap size, color and height which allowed them to developed traps containing petri dishes with fungal spores (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae) for auto-dissemination into the weevil population, which has been highly effective in Guam and the CNMI.
Scientists attending the conference were very interested in utiizing Reddy’s IPM techniques in their home countries. Reddy is also in discussion with Drs. Katsuya Ichinose and Takashi Kuriwada about the possibility of using the sterile male technique to control weevil populations.
“Scientists in Okinawa have effectively used the sterile male technique to eradicate fruit flies, so we thought it may be an effective strategy for controling sweetpotato weevils in the region,” said Reddy.
Ichinose and Kuriwada are planning to visit Guam in March of 2012 to continue this collabartive effort.[I] (UOG)[/I]
