Given world food shortages, the issue of invasive insects and other pests goes beyond a few spotty leaves, Chief Agricultural Officer Bevin Braithwaite told agriculture officers from the Virgin Islands and 11 other Caribbean jurisdictions Monday morning.
“We are meeting in a very challenging time,” Mr. Braithwaite said at the opening ceremony for the Regional Identification Workshop on Thysanoptrean Pests of Economic Importance. Damage caused by pests can mean that produce goes unsold at markets, which can, in turn, hurt Caribbean economies that depend on agriculture.
The weeklong workshop aims to train officers in identifying different types of thrips, as the tiny insects are commonly known.
Mr. Braithwaite said the department plans to use the information gathered in the workshop to help formulate a pest detection strategy, explore more cost-effective pest-detection techniques, and develop a strategy for targeting “high-risk” pests.
This is the sixth identification workshop to be held for the region, said Lionel Wayne De Chi, a United States Department of Agriculture animal and plant health inspection service scientist based in Trinidad and Tobago.
See the Oct. 4, 2012 edition for full coverage.
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