biological control of the millet head miner in niger and senegal

BiologicalcontrolofthemilletheadminerinNigerandSenegalMalickBa,PI,ICRISATIbrahimaSarr,Co-PI,ISRAIbrahimBaoua,Co-PI,UniversityofMaradi,NigerMuniappanRangaswamy,Co-PI,VirginiaTechGeorgeNortonCollaborator,VirginiaTechLaoualiAmadou,INRANSMILincepHonmeeHng,Saly-Senegal,April23-25

ThePearlMillet•  IntheSahelianregionofWestAfrica,pearlmillet,isamajorcerealfoodcrop.

•  InaddiHontotheextremeclimaHccondiHons,themilletcropsuffersfrommanyconstraints,includinginsectpests.

•  Themilletheadminer(MHM),Heliocheilusalbipunctella(deJoannis)(Lepidoptera:Noctuidae),isoneofthekeyinsectpestofPMintheSahelregion.

Themilletheadminer•  Damagetothecropisduetolarvaethatfeedonthepanicle

•  Asthelarvaechewbetweentherachisandflowers,theyliXthedestroyedflowersordevelopinggrains,leavingacharacterisHcspiralpaYern

•  Typicalyieldlossesrangefrom40to85%

MHMbiologicalcycle

Whybiologicalcontrol?•  ControlwithinsecHcidesisnotrealisHcforsubsistencefarmersbecauseofprohibiHvecostandrisktohealthandtheenvironment.

•  Furthermore,aYemptstodevelopinsectresistancevarieHestotheMHMhavethusfarbeenunsuccessful.

•  Culturalmanagementhaslimitedapplicability

•  EffecHvebiocontrolagentsareavailable

Whybiologicalcontrol?

•  AvailabilityofeffecHvebiocontrolagent

•  ThebraconidaeparasitoidwaspHabrobracon(=Bracon)hebetorSaynaturallyinflictedsignificantmortalitytoMHM.

•  Hhebetorcanbeeasilymassreared

Howaugmenta=vereleasesaremade?

•  Theparasitoidswerereleasedin15cm×25cmjutebags(+200gofmilletgrains+100gofmilletflour+25larvaeofthericemothCorcyracephalonica(Stainton)+twomatedH.hebetorfemales).

•  ThejutebagsweresuspendedtotheceilingoftradiHonalstrawgranaries.

•  Parasitoidoffspring’swasabletoescapethroughthejutemeshesandstrawgranariesanddispersedtoparasiHzeMHMlarvaeinmilletfields.

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Daily H. hebetor adults emerging from the jute bags

Total:70parasitoidsEmerging=me:8days

Howeffec=veitis?

Howeffec=veitis?

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2008

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BurkinaFaso Mali Niger

%parasi=zedlarvae

H.hebetorreleasesvillages Control(noreleases)

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BurkinaFaso Mali Niger

%parasi=zedlarvae

H.hebetorreleasesvillages Control(noreleases)

Completelydamagedpanicles Savedpanicles

Upto30%grainyieldgain(Baouaetal.2013

Howeffec=veitis?

Whyanotherproject?•  Therehavebeensomefailuresofthistechnology,becauseforunknownreasonssomebagsdonotproduceparasitoids.

•  Moreover,inmanycasestheemergingoffspringwasmalebiasedwhichreducescontrolbecauseonlyfemalesparasiHzeMHMlarvae.

•  Parasitoidsonlytargetlateinstarslarvae,controlofeggscouldenhancedtheBCP

Whyanotherproject?•  FinallyHmelyreleaseofH.hebetorparasitoidsischallenging

•  Releasesofparasitoidsareneededeverygrowingseason.

•  Highdemandforparasitoidthatresearchlaboratoriescouldnotmeet

Overallobjec=ve:significantlyreduceinsectpestdamagetomilletforimprovementofcropproducHvity.

SpecificObjec=ves

•  OpHmizedH.hebetorrearingtechniqueforenhancementofnumbersandlongevityofemergingH.hebetorparasitoids

•  OpHmizedH.hebetorreleasetechniquesforbeYercontrolofMHM

•  Iden=fy/testeggparasitoidsforenhancementoftheBCP

§  AssesstheeconomicfeasibilityofestablishingacoYageindustryforparasitoidproducHon

(tomakeparasitoidsavailableeveryyear)

Objec=ve1:Op=miza=onofH.hebetorrearingtechniques

•  Ac=vi=es–  EvaluateperformanceofH.hebetorwhenrearedonC.cephalonicafeedingondifferenttypesofmedium

–  IdenHfyC.cephalonicaopHmallarvaestageforH.hebetorparasiHsm

–  DeterminebestH.hebetor/C.cephalonicaraHoforthegreatestnumberofparasitoidoffspring

–  AssesssuperparasiHsmofH.hebetor

Objec=ve2:Op=miza=onofH.hebetorreleasetechniques

•  Ac=vi=es–  TestdirectreleaseofH.hebetoradultsusingdifferentnumbersofparasitoidsperareaofpearlmillet

–  DeterminebeYermilletgrowingstage(panicleexerHon,flowering)forreleasesofH.hebetor

–  DeterminebeYerHmeforreleaseofH.hebetoraXerfirstappearanceofMHMmoths/eggs.

Objec=ve3:Assesseffec=venessofeggparasitoidsforcontrollingMHM

•  Ac=vi=es–  AssessseasonaloccurrenceofMHMeggparasitoidsinSenegalandNiger

–  Constructlifetableandassessdemographicparametersofeggparasitoids

–  Assessinterspecific/intraspecificcompeHHonamongtheeggparasitoidspecies

–  Developmassrearingtechniqueforeggparasitoids

Objec=ve4:AssessingtheeconomicfeasibilityofestablishingparasitoidcoYageindustry

•  Ac=vi=es

–  Conductbaselinesurveytocharacterizedpearlmilletgrowers

–  Conductex-antestudiestoassessthekindofbusinessmodeltobedevelop(individualenterprise,cooperaHve…)

–  Assessthecost/benefitsofmassrearingandreleasesofH.hebetor

TOC:Causalpathwayfromac=vi=estoimpactsAc=vi=es Intermediateoutputs Finaloutputs Impacts

TesteffecHvenessofMHMeggparasitoids

Lifetablesanddemographicparametersofparasitoidsassessed

Approachesforreleaseofeggparasitoidstested1Ph.D.studentcompleted

KnowledgeobtainedofopHmalapproachtoreleaseparasitoids

OpHmizeH.hebetorrearingandreleasetechniques

-LearneffectsofC.cephalonicarearingmediumonH.hebetordevelopment-BeYerHmingforreleasesofH.hebetorassessed

ProtocolforopHmalH.hebetorrearingandrelease;1Ph.D.studentcompleted

KnowledgeofopHmalHmingofreleases,numberofparasitoidstoreleaseperha

AssesseconomicfeasibilityofH.hebetorindustry

IniHalbaselinesurvey-economicbenefitsoftheparasitoidreleases.

DesignofthecoYageindustryforparasitoidrelease;1MSstudentcompleted

-ReducedlossesduetoMHM;higherincomesforfarmersandthoseproducingparasitoids;

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