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Whitefly and whitefly-borne viruses in the tropics : Building a ... - cgiar

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Costa Rica<br />

CHAPTER 3.7<br />

Costa Rica<br />

Introduction<br />

Geographical context<br />

The Central Plateau, around <strong>the</strong> capital<br />

city of San José, is one of <strong>the</strong> most<br />

<strong>in</strong>tensively cultivated areas <strong>in</strong> Costa<br />

Rica. North <strong>and</strong> south of this region,<br />

<strong>the</strong> broken <strong>and</strong> volcanic topography of<br />

mounta<strong>in</strong> ranges exp<strong>and</strong>s all <strong>the</strong> way<br />

to <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn border with Nicaragua<br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn border with Panama.<br />

East <strong>and</strong> west of <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn<br />

mounta<strong>in</strong> ranges lie <strong>the</strong> Caribbean <strong>and</strong><br />

Pacific lowl<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>the</strong> least developed<br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>habited regions of Costa Rica.<br />

South-eastern Costa Rica receives over<br />

1500 mm of ra<strong>in</strong> annually, which<br />

prompted <strong>the</strong> development of a thriv<strong>in</strong>g<br />

banana (Musa spp. L.) production<br />

<strong>in</strong>dustry towards 1880. Coffee (Coffea<br />

arabica L.) was <strong>in</strong>troduced <strong>in</strong>to Costa<br />

Rica <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1830s <strong>and</strong> soon became a<br />

source of wealth for many farmers <strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> Central Plateau. Among <strong>the</strong> basic<br />

food staples, maize (Zea mays L.) <strong>and</strong><br />

common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)<br />

are important components of <strong>the</strong> Costa<br />

Rican diet, toge<strong>the</strong>r with crops such as<br />

potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) <strong>and</strong><br />

* Centro Internacional de Agricultura<br />

Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.<br />

** Centro Agronómico Tropical de<br />

Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Costa<br />

Rica.<br />

*** M<strong>in</strong>isterio de Agricultura, Costa Rica.<br />

ψ Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica.<br />

ψψ Universidad de Costa Rica.<br />

Francisco Morales*, Luko Hilje**, Juan Vallejos**,<br />

Guillermo Sibaja***, Carlos Araya ψ <strong>and</strong> Rodolfo Araya ψψ<br />

planta<strong>in</strong> (Musa × paradisiacal L.).<br />

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is<br />

produced only to a limited extent <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

Pacific lowl<strong>and</strong>s of <strong>the</strong> Prov<strong>in</strong>ce of<br />

Guanacaste (West <strong>and</strong> Augelli, 1977;<br />

Pastor, 1988). The Central Plateau is<br />

undoubtedly one of <strong>the</strong> most affected<br />

areas <strong>in</strong> terms of <strong>whitefly</strong>-related<br />

damage. Figure 1 shows <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong><br />

agricultural regions affected by<br />

<strong>whitefly</strong>-transmitted begomo<strong>viruses</strong>.<br />

Alajuela<br />

Guanacaste<br />

Puntarenas<br />

Costa Rica<br />

Heredia<br />

Cartago<br />

San José Limón<br />

Figure 1. The ma<strong>in</strong> agricultural regions<br />

affected by <strong>whitefly</strong>-transmitted<br />

begomo<strong>viruses</strong>, Costa Rica.<br />

The emergence of Bemisia<br />

tabaci as a pest <strong>and</strong> virus<br />

vector<br />

Puntarenas<br />

The lack of suitable reproductive hosts<br />

for <strong>the</strong> <strong>whitefly</strong> Bemisia tabaci<br />

(Gennadius) such as cotton or soybean<br />

(Glyc<strong>in</strong>e max [L.] Merr.), toge<strong>the</strong>r with<br />

<strong>the</strong> high ra<strong>in</strong>fall over much of <strong>the</strong><br />

Costa Rican territory, protected <strong>the</strong><br />

217

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