INTERNATIONAL
CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
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The
Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinosera decemlineata, poses a serious
threat to potato growers in Afghanistan.
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“The Colorado Potato Beetle is one of the most destructive insect pests of potato,” Mr Abdul Rahman Manan, Deputy Executive Manager, ICARDA-Afghanistan, said. “The insect eats all the leaves of the potato plants, which greatly reduces yields. Its arrival in Afghanistan is very dangerous.”
Finding the Colorado Potato Beetle in Baghlan, Afghanistan, is especially disturbing since this province is particularly suitable for potato cultivation. No supplemental irrigation is needed during the rainy season from November to April and the crop only requires 4-5 irrigations before harvest season in June and July. Growing potato in Baghlan province requires the least amount of water and is, therefore, more economically viable than growing potato in other parts of the country.
Potato is an important cash crop for farmers in Afghanistan and represents a profitable alternative to cultivating poppy. Farmers often use the income from selling their potato crop to harvest wheat or to plant rice. A total of 14,000 ha are sown to potato in Afghanistan with a yield of 16.8 t/ha. ICARDA and CIP have been promoting potato cultivation by supplying seed of improved varieties and training farmers in the best practices to grow potato and seed potato.
Originally ICARDA and CIP introduced and promoted two red-skin varieties, ‘Cardinal’ and ‘Desiree,’ as well as a white-skin variety, ‘Kufri Chandramukhi’ in Baghlan and Kunduz provinces. The researchers soon discovered that the Colorado Potato Beetle prefers the red-skin varieties over the white-skin, perhaps because the red-skin varieties have a shorter plant height and better taste. Taking this preference as well as farmer preference for white-skin potatoes into consideration, it has been decided to stop increasing and distributing red-skin potato varieties in the country.
ICARDA and CIP researchers have been trying to find suitable pest management options to control Colorado Potato Beetle infestations. The ICARDA and CIP team is planning to train farmers to remove this beetle by hand before infestations get too severe and promote the use of early-maturing varieties of potato with a larger plant size.
About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org)
serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil,
and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management
of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants
(sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In
the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible
for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage
legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of
the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
(www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance
of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge
science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty,
improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.