Jamaica TRIP REPORT - OIRED - Virginia Tech

Jamaica
TRIP REPORT
by
Clive Edwards
August 3-9, 1997
Ja - 16

Contact Address for the Management Entity
IPM CRSP
Office of International Research and Development
1060 Litton Reaves Hall
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0334
Telephone (540) 231-3513
FAX (540) 231-3519
E-mail: BRHANE@vt.edu
IPM CRSP US Institutions
Lincoln University Rodale Inst. Res. Ctr.
Montana State University Univ of CA/Berkeley
Ohio State University University of Georgia
Penn State University USDA Veg Lab
Purdue University Virginia Tech
Host Country Institutions
Prime Sites Satellite Sites
Guatemala - Agri-lab, ALTERTEC, Ecuador - INIAP
CARE, ICTA
Jamaica - CARDI,
Ministry of Agriculture Honduras - EAP
Mali - IER Thailand - Dept of Agriculture
Philippines - NCPC/UPLB, PhilRice Uganda - Makerere University
International Centers
AVRDC - Taiwan CIAT - Columbia
IRRI - Philippines CIP - Peru
Private Sector
The Kroger Company Caito Foods PICO
NGOs/PVOs

JAMAICA TRIP REPORT
by Clive A. Edwards
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210
August 3-9, 1997

Personnel Involved
Dionne Clark-Harris (Entomologist)
Frieda Eivazi (Soil Scientist - Lincoln University)
Oral James (Technical Assistant)
Janet Lawrence (Site Coordinator/Entomologist)
Joseph Lindsay (Agronomist; Director, CARDI)
Angela Magnus (USDA Quarantine Supervisor)
Raymond Martin (Pesticide Residue Analyst)
Frank McDonald (Plant Pathologist; Director-Elect, CARDI)
Don McGlashan (Director, Bodles Research Station)
Peter Myers (Technical Assistant)
Janice Reid (Country Representative/Co-Principal Investigator)
Marcia Smith (Agronomist, Bodes Research Station)
Carol Thomas (Chief Plant Quarantine Inspector, Jamaica)

Sunday, August 3, 1997
7.50 pm Arrival, Jamaica, Norman Manley International Airport--Met by
Janet Lawrence, IPM CRSP Jamaica Site Coordinator.
Monday, August 4, 1997
Reviewing, editing and modifying manuscripts produced by Jamaica IPM CRSP:
1. M. F. Huelsman, C. A. Edwards and J. Lawrence, 1997. A Study of the
Effect of Soil Nutrient Levels on the Incidence of Insect Pest and Predators
in Jamaican Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatus) and callaloo (Amaranthus spp.),
Crop Protection, 8 pp.
2. J. Lawrence, 1997. Pest Management Guides. No. 1: Sweet
Potatoes. CARDI/IPM CRSP, Kingston, Jamaica.
3. D. Clarke-Harris, 1997. Pest Management Guides. No. 2: Callaloo.
CARDI/ IPM CRSP, Kingston, Jamaica.
4. J. Lawrence, Behac, J. and Freisches S., 1997. Pest Management
Guides. No. 3: Sweet potato weevil. CARDI/IPM CRSP, Kingston, Jamaica.
Tuesday, August 5, 1997
8.40 am-12.00pm Visit Jamaican Inspection and Pre-Clearance Facility, Norman
Manley International Airport.
Carol Thomas (Chief Plant Quarantine Inspector), Angela
Magnus (USDA Quarantine Representative), Janice Reid, Janet Lawrence, Frank
McDonald (CARDI).
The status of callaloo, hot peppers and sweet potatoes for export from Jamaica
and import and pre-clearance to the U.S.:
Sweet Potatoes --export to U.S. not allowed under current import
regulations.
Hot Peppers --Pre-clearance available. About 10% of crops are rejected
due to presence of insects.
Callaloo --Pre-clearance has been temporarily withdrawn. Crops can
still be submitted for inspection. About 30-40% of callaloo crops are
currently rejected for export. Criteria for rejection need to be made clearer
so farmers can avoid rejection. Methods of disinfestation prior to export
need to be examined and guidelines for doing this provided.
The Pre-clearance Facility is being expanded considerably and in the
near future will house representatives from Air Jamaica and American Airlines,
plus greatly improved storage facilities for crops awaiting inspection and/or
fumigation. Further discussions between IPM CRSP/CARDI and the pre-clearance
officials could provide the baiss for prepartaion of documents on farmer
guide-lines on critical infestation levels for rejection of sweet potatoes,
hot peppers and callaloo for export.

1.30 pm - 4.45 pm A discussion with Janice Reid, Janet Lawrence, Frank
McDonald, Joseph Lindsay, Dionne Clarke-Harris and Raymond Martin, to review
and suggest potential publications based on past IPM CRSP work. The following
potential publications were identified as a result of this discussion:
Pest Management Guides IPM CRSP/CARDI
• No. 3: Peppers - Raymond Martin
• No. 4: Scouting for Pests of Callaloo and Hot Peppers -Dionne
Clarke-Harris and Raymond Martin
• No. 5: Pesticides Recommended for Use on Callaloo - Dionne Clarke-
Harris*
• No. 6: Pesticides Recommended for Use on Hot Peppers - Raymond
Martin*
• No. 7: Requirements for Clearance and Pre-Clearance of Export Crops
- Janice Reid, Janet Lawrence and Raymond Martin*--(This would include both
insect and mite infestations and pesticide residue levels)
• No. 8: Disinfestation of Callaloo and Hot Pepper for Export -Dionne
Clarke-Harris and Raymond Martin
• No. 9: Identification of Important Weeds in Callaloo, Sweet Potatoes
and Hot Peppers - Janet Lawrence, Phillip Chung, Dionne Clarke-Harris and
Raymond Martin
Proposed Refereed Papers
The following refereed scientific papers are at various stages of
development and preparation:
Dionne Clarke-Harris. Mapping and Analyzing Insect Pest Populations on
Callaloo.
Dionne Clarke-Harris. Action Thresholds for Pest Control on Callaloo.
Dionne Clarke-Harris. Efficacy of methomyl and Bacillus thurgiensis for
control of lepidopterous pests of callaloo.
* Will provide advice based on criteria used in the U.S. State and Federal Recommendations.
Wednesday, August 6, 1997
8.00 am - 9.30 am Travel to Jamaica Department of Agriculture -
Bodles Agricultural Research Station.

Meeting to develop details of Workplan for the "Soil Fertility and
Influence of Pests Studies." Project led by Frieda Eivazi.
Present: Don McGlashon (Director), Marcia Smith (Agronomist),
Frieda Eivazi (Lincoln Univeristy), Janet Lawrence, Dionne Clarke-Harris,
Joseph Lindsay (CARDI), Raymond Martin, Peter Myers.
Suggestions offered concerned the number and kind of nutrient
treatments and the design of a sampling program for insect and mite pests
and diseases.
1.30 pm on Travel to Bushy Park--Demonstration of D-Vac equipment for
sampling arthropod pests on plants. A D-Vac suction sampler was brought
from the Ohio State University, on extended loan to CARDI. The use of the
equipment was demonstrated to Janet Lawrence, Dionne Clarke-Harris and
Peter Myers.
Return to Kingston.
Thursday, August 7, 1997
8.00am - 12.00 pm Discussion Meeting with Janice Reid, Janet
Lawrence, Raymond Martin, Dianne Clarke-Harris.
Aims :
1. Current Plant Sampling for Insecticide Residues : A
sampling plan for assessing residues on callaloo and hot peppers on
current visit was developed. This was to sample peppers from four local
markets. These were the three markets sampled in previous years plus
another. Three callaloo and three pepper samples were collected from
each market, their site of origin determined and put into deep freeze
immediately.
Six samples of callaloo and six of hot peppers were collected from
farms selected randomly in the Bushy Park and St. Catherine areas and
placed into deep freeze.
Six samples of callaloo and six of hot peppers were collected from
the Pre-Clearance Facility at Norman Manley Airport and placed into deep

freeze.
All samples were transported back by Clive Edwards to the Ohio
State University for residue analyses.
2.
Planning Residue Work for Year 5 1997-1998 :
a) It was decided to collect Market Basket Samples of callaloo
and hot peppers for pesticide residue analyses, twice a year.
It was also decided to collect a similar number of Field Samples
of the same crops from farmers' fields twice a year for pesticide residue
analyses.
It was decided to collect samples of hot peppers and callaloo from
the Pre-Clearance Facility three times a year for pesticide analyses.
b)
Plants :
Rate of Degradation of Commonly-Used Insecticides on
A field experiment to trace the dissipation of insecticide residues
on callaloo was designed.
Aims
Pesticides that have been recorded as commonly-used on Farmer
Surveys were selected for experimental assessment of the rates of
dissipation from callaloo in the field. Those pesticides appearing most
commonly in the insectcide residue surveys done in 1995 and 1996 were
also included.
Insecticides to be Chosen for the Callaloo Dissipation Study
Common Name Trade Name
Profenophos Selecron
Methomyl Lannate

Methods
Lambdacylhalothrin Karrate
Malathion ---
Diazinon Basudin
Poromopropylate Neuron
Chlorbenzilate ---
Diafenthiuron Pegasus
Callaloo will be sprayed with these insecticides in the field and samples
taken at the following intervals after treatment:
1 hour
2 days
4 days
6 days
8 days
10 days
The insecticides in the leaf samples will be extracted, "cleaned up" and
analyzed.
Results
The results should provide essential data to recommend, appropriate
intervals between spraying and harvesting, under Jamaican climatic
conditions to growers.
2.30 pm - 5.00 pm A seminar "Effects of Pesticides on Soil
Ecosystems" was presented to staff and assistants of CARDI and the
University of the West Indies. There was considerable discussion on
issues such as: the differential effects of various pesticides on different
groups of soil organisms, the role of organic matter in influencing the
efficacy and persistence of pesticides in soil, effects of pesticides on
pests and predators, the effects of pesticides on cycling of nutrients in

the soil, the buildup of plant parasitic nematode populations under
inorganic chemicals compared with organic inputs, and effects of
pesticides on interaction between various groups of soil organisms.
Friday, 8 August 1997
9.00 am 3.00 pm Collection of samples of callaloo and hot peppers for
pesticide residue analyses from the Pre-Clearance Facility at the Norman
Manley Airport, from four local markets and from fields under study in the
Bushy Park area.
The samples were packed in polythene bags in a cooler with only dry
ice for transport to the U.S. for analyses and stored in a deep freeze until
analyzed for residues.
3.30pm - 5.00 pm Closing meeting with Janice Reid, Janet Lawrence,
Dionne Clarke-Harris, Raymond Martin, Dwight Robinson (University of
West Indies) Phillip Chung (RADA).
The potential of light trap networks for assessing flight-periods of
moths and chafers and suction traps for assessing aphid activity was
discussed in terms of setting up such networks in Jamaica.
The light traps are cheap to build and experience has shown that
they can be operated on a cooperative basis by teachers and students from
appropriately-located schools. Teachers are provided with workshops to
explain the aims and operation of the project. Each school is provided
with a light trap, containers to keep the moth s collected and a small
collection box with pinned specimens of the key moths associated with
caterpillars attacking callaloo and hot peppers. The students empty the
traps daily and do the moth identifications from a simple key. A network
of up to ten or more traps could provide a distribution map of each species
of moth over the whole growing area or region and additionally when the
adults are on the wing in the various areas. This allows advise to be given
on the optimum time to spray for caterpillar or white grub control. Such a
system is cheap, requires little labor and is very cost-effective as a
warning scheme.
Similarly, the collection of insects, especially aphids, flying at a
height of 10 m above the ground, can be collected in a single Rothamsted

suction trap of the type that are used as a network across Europe. These
traps separate insect catches into hourly and daily batches. If these are
sorted rapidly, preferably by one week, the timing of control sprays can
kill aphids in a timely manner, and minimize spread of virus in a crop such
as hot peppers. One or possibly two such traps in Jamaica could provide
an island-wide warning scheme.