New bio control lab will strengthen pest management

Added on 21 February 2022

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New bio control lab will strengthen pest management

JAMAICA- The Bodles Research Station in St. Catherine now boasts a new Biological Control Laboratory, which will strengthen the island's pest control measures, while helping to protect the environment.

Acting Principal Research Director for the Research and Development Division in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Michelle Sherwood, told JIS News that the lab will focus on the use of biological control agents to kill pests that can harm plants.

Left unchecked, pests can cause considerable damage and revenue loss to the agriculture sector.

Biological control involves introducing a natural enemy into the environment of a pest, such as a parasite, predator, or disease organism. If the natural enemy is already present in the environment, it is encouraged to multiply and become more effective in reducing the number of pest organisms.

"We are familiar with the farmer's friend like the wasp, the ladybird beetle and other insects. With this lab, we're now able to harness from our natural environment, those bio control agents, which we now can collect for research. We now have an environment to be able to multiply and release them as an additional tool to the farmers," she said.

Mrs. Sherwood said that biocontrol agents can also have positive implications for the environment.

"Farmers have been using pesticides, which are harmful to the environment and harmful to health. The use of biocontrol agents is environmentally friendly and is also highly effective in the management of pests in our agricultural sector," she pointed out.

Meanwhile, a greenhouse was also built at Bodles to produce citrus fruit seedlings under the Clean Seed Development Programme.

The programme operates under the 2019 National Seed Policy, which aims to increase the island's ability to produce all the planting material needed for the entire agriculture sector.

The vision of the policy is to establish a sustainable seed system that ensures a consistent and reliable supply of clean, affordable, and accessible seeds, in support of agricultural production, productivity, food security and biodiversity.

"With this new facility we are now able to produce clean seeds for the citrus industry, which has been negatively impacted by citrus greening disease," Mrs. Sherwood noted.