-Miami symposium hears
A Miami symposium was yesterday told that palm trees are under threat from the Red Palm Mite that has taken root in the Caribbean Basin and has already caused a 70% reduction in coconut yield.
Red Palm Mite expert Dr Amy Roda made this revelation at a US Department of Agriculture programme for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture Research, T-STAR, sponsored symposium on invasive species on Tuesday. A scientist at the seminar, held in Miami said too the Red Palm Mite could now be found on 12 Caribbean islands, Venezuela and two counties in Florida, USA. The mite is believed to have first arrived in the Caribbean in 2003. It is “a pest of coconut and ornamental palms, with the former being heavily used by the local population as an economic enterprise and the latter used to adorn many hotels” and private homes, the Caricom Secretariat said in a press release.
Roda said the pest starts its attack on the small, lower hung leaves of palm trees and once it has had its fill it moves to the more mature leaves causing a yellowing of the leaves of affected trees. She said too with the increase in the tourist trade the mite is being unknowingly moved across national borders in souvenirs made out of palm, particularly green palm. She cited Florida as a city that has developed cooperation mechanism with cruise line officials and as a result passengers were “voluntarily declaring souvenirs made from palms when their boats dock at the port and before they actually leave the roads.”
In a study in which experts from the Caribbean and Florida participated, it was further revealed that to date efforts at controlling the pest have not reaped significant results. Roda said officials in the affected countries have experimented with mainly two treatment methods: pesticides and natural enemies but neither had garnered much success. However, the scientist emphasised that efforts would continue on both fronts as a means of managing the pest. She said too affected countries needed to combine their efforts and share expertise in dealing with the pest.
Caricom said the issue has started to attract increasing attention among plant specialists. An increasing number of studies have taken place and a Working Group on the pest has been formed with membership from the affected countries. The Group will be meeting within the margins of the Caribbean Food Crop Society (CFCS) Meeting in Miami. The seriousness of the mite disease was also recognised by the Caribbean Community Plant Health Officials at their inaugural meeting held here in April. The meeting concluded that if the onset of the disease was not dealt with on a continuous basis the effect could be devastating as coconuts were an important part of the economic life of the Caribbean.
