ICARDA Caravan 18/19

Improved Wheat Production through Integrated Pest Management in Afghanistan

Members of the Future Harvest Consortium are researching and promoting an integrated approach to crop pest and disease management in Afghanistan. The strategy has already paid off in one Afghan province threatened by Sunn pest, and more success can be expected now that extension and farmer training are well under way.

Heavy Sunn pest infestation on a wheat spike.

Wheat Crop Saved in Helmand, Afghanistan

In summer 2002, wheat production on about 200,000 hectares in Afghanistan was rendered useless due to infestation by Eurygaster integriceps, an insect known as Sunn pest. It would have happened again in spring 2003, but the effort of the Central Asian Development Group (CADG) saved the crop. The organization, a member of the Future Harvest Consortium, was able to save 12.8 million dollars worth of wheat in Helmand Province using Sunn pest management information provided by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

“We launched an emergency program with our extension workers supported by community volunteers, and our program covered 32,000 acres in around seven days,” reported Mr Steve Shaulis, CADG Director. The Sunn pest infestation was brought under control, and the saved crops represent enough wheat to feed 300,000 Afghans for one year.

The site of evolution of many of the world’s most important crops, West Asia is also host to many of wheat and barley’s most damaging pests. Sunn pest, for example, causes damage as it feeds on plants, but also injects chemicals that cause grain gluten to break down. If as little as 2% of the grain in a crop is affected, the entire grain harvest is rendered unsuitable for baking.

For long-term management solutions, ICARDA, in partnership with the University of Vermont, is providing training in integrated pest management (IPM). The training covers biological and behavioral knowledge of the Sunn pest, its natural enemies, farming practices, host plant resistance, entomopathogenic fungi, and use of conventional pesticides. Using this integrated, broad-based approach, scientists hope to more effectively control infestations and decrease dependence on expensive and environmentally harmful chemicals that might also lead to resistance in the insect population.

The Integrated Pest Management Approach

Sunn pest infected with Beauveria bassiana fungus.

Twenty Afghan agronomists, including representatives from CADG, were selected for integrated pest management (IPM) training in the summer of 2002. Trainees learnt how to conduct field assessments necessary to reveal the degree of infestation and overwintering sites where Sunn pest can be controlled before migrating to crop areas in the spring. Trained farmers were able to identify these sites, calculate the likelihood of infestation, and determine the economic threshold for application of pesticides, as well as utilize other methods for controlling insect numbers.

An option under development is the use of the fungus species Beauveria bassiana as a biocontrol agent. Scientists have determined that this fungus is highly toxic to Sunn pest in the egg and larval stages. If mass-produced on cereal grain and applied by farmers on overwintering sites, this fungal formulation could provide a low-cost, simple means of controlling the pest.

And ICARDA scientists have discovered a source of resistance to Sunn pest in a wild relative of wheat. Plant breeders are crossing these lines with Afghanistan-adapted bread wheat varieties to develop pest-resistant crops for release to farmers.

With training in IPM, farmers can turn to cheaper and environmently safer ways to control this destructive crop pest. In the future, dependence on government subsidized pesticides will diminish along with the damage caused to the environment. Farmers will soon have access to safer, and more effective means of protecting their crops.