Cape Verde will have a National Council for Pest and Disease Management in Agriculture (CNGPDA), responsible for monitoring the main crop enemies throughout the national territory, determined by the Government.
According to the resolution of March 14 of the Council of Ministers that creates this structure, this council arises given the planned creation of a working group specifically to deal with the corn caterpillar pest but is now extended to all pests threatening Cape Verdean agriculture.
“To maximize resources and the capacity for coordination, monitoring, and intervention on the ground in Cape Verde, it was agreed to create a commission, not only for a specific bio-aggressor (fruit fly or the corn borer caterpillar) but for a single structure that deals with the main crop enemies,” reads the resolution that creates the CNGPDA.
The Government also recalls that “one of the problems limiting the development of Cape Verdean agriculture,” in addition to the scarcity of water and soil, “is undoubtedly the problem of damage caused by various crop enemies.”
“Especially pests such as the fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis; the corn borer caterpillar, Spodoptera frugiperda; the locust, Oedaleus senegalensis; the diplopod, Bandeirenica caboverdus, among others, which have been reducing agricultural production and productivity, greatly affecting the income of producers and the food security of the population,” he says.
He adds that to “provide a proportional response to the scourge,” the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has implemented regional initiatives through a project to support the regional plan against the pest and has implemented a phytosanitary surveillance system, an initiative that is currently being extended to all member states, through the implementation of a new project on Innovative Regional Management System for the Fruit Fly in West Africa (SyRIMAO).
With information from Forbes