The Plant Protection and Quarantine Unit is advising residents that insecticide is not the solution to fighting the Scale insect affecting Balisier, Laplaine.
Ryan Anselm, Head of the unit, explained, “We have tried insecticide. That was the first thing we did although we knew it wouldn’t work…We tried most of the insecticide that we know but they did not work effectively; it will [work at] 20 or 30% [efficiency].
“So we’re working with our beetles, the ladybirds, they are the ones which will effectively manage the problem.”
The Ministry has found that chemicals are so far ineffective and so is asking the public to be patient and let the natural predator do its job.
“[The Scale is] an insect, not a disease; it’s an insect pest similar to Millibug which has a waxy substance over it so if you spray it, the chemical will remove some of the waxy substance but it will not be effective because it will not reach the insect itself. The insect is inside the scale,” he said. “The other thing is that if you use a chemical, it will kill all the parasitoids and the natural enemies.”
Anselm advised farmers that although their first response may be to spray for pests, the chemicals are harmful to the environment and human health.
He assured, “We have been doing very good work in the lab so what we are doing now is transferring the work to your fields to manage the pests for you.”
I think it is deplorable and extremely irresponsible to invest time and resources to destroy the fauna , pollute the environment with chemicals
that ” we knew it wouldn’t work” . Have we gone mad.?
spray it with strong salt water sure death
I have a couple of beautiful people leave sand cherry trees in my back yard that are infected with scale and do far the only effective remedy to controlling the infestation is to physically remove the scale one by one.
As the article stated the waxy surface protects the bugs from chemical attack.
The explosion of new pest and diseases in Dominica is a result of the breakdown of the Quarantine measures which has been in place for many years. The Chinese and Venezuelan contractors were allowed to bypass customs and therefore created the opportunity to introduce all these problem pests.
Use sevin and water in a sprayer and spray. Or use Confidor made by Bayer.
“Try again” good advice …NOT!!!!
The only way to fight scale insects is the famous “essential oils”
Anselm advised farmers that although their first response may be to spray for pests, the chemicals are harmful to the environment and human health.
If so, then we should not spray for mosquitoes.
Ket me ad here, that the fogging the NPC administered was very ineffective and had very little odor…could have been tooo diluted. When done by the EH you see a 99% decrease for some time and the odor is way stronger. My 4c.
The info that you are giving is sketchy. What insecticide did you use, what species is it and specific lady bug. Are you planning on importing or does the lab have what you need?
Draw ,please let us know what insecticide you used, the ladybug that you are using to control it and the ne of the species of scale insect if you don’t mind.’
Mr Anselm, I just want to say, “thank you” for all the hard work that you and your staff are doing to keep the sector safe and to help farmers and their investments.
I am elated to see that biological control is being used as part of the IPM program and not only rely on the traditional method of indescriminate use of chemical control.
The Nature Island needs to be fully engaged in solving these issues using our natural control methods and must understand that these chemicals will only continue harming of farmers, environment, people and decrease our prospect in combating these pests and diseases in the long term. Keep educating and aiding the nation to fight against these agricultural predators and enemies.
Big up my Brother.
where is that lab
“We have tried insecticide. That was the first thing we did ALTHOUGH WE KNEW IT WOULDN’T WORK…We tried most of the insecticide that we know but they did not work effectively; it will [work at] 20 or 30% [efficiency]….. So you knew that and effectively WASTED resources that could have been directed to some other pest problem. If you knew it wouldn’t work what was the scientific, social or even financial rationale (PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR RATIONALE) for using chemicals in the first place. Must have been expecting some MAGIC to happen from out of the blue sky.
Uhm …Perhaps he is refering to the trails they conducted in the labs..not a waste of resource but rather the basis for good scientific research.
boy ryan, I don’t know if allu mad but I saw the infestation in la plaine, and its destruction of full grown large trees. if you are waiting for predators, I suspect is when the whole of dominica is devastated you will want to import them.