A three-member agricultural task team from Mexico recently visited several Caribbean islands including Grand Cayman to study the Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia dillenii), and the insect that destroys it – the cactus moth (Cactoblastis cactorum). The team was sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency the Mexican Government and the US, said a GIS press release.
Older Cayman residents will remember abundant Prickly Pear cacti flourishing in the West Bay, Bodden Town, East End and North Side districts during the 1950s and 1960s. An Opuntia cactus grows to about one and a half metres, is extremely prolific and can quickly spread across pasture land, wresting valuable grazing areas from cattle. Those same cattle also help spread the cactus when its prickly pads cling to their hides.
It was during those years that the Cayman Government urgently appealed to the UK for assistance in eradicating the cactus and experts from there responded by providing the cactus moth, the release said. Within a few years the moth had proliferated, feeding on the cactus that is its main food source and thereby successfully eradicating the plant. Cayman’s farmers were happy with the results.
Preventative measures
Helmuth Zimmermann, a consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency explained that the Opuntia cactus is not viewed as an unwanted weed in Mexico but rather as a plant with great social, economic and cultural significance. ‘Opuntia dillenii and other cacti are entrenched in Mexican culture. We do not have this moth in Mexico at this time but we need the co-operation of Caribbean countries to prevent the introduction of this moth into Mexico.’
Today, in Mexico, more than 20,000 farmers make their living from the Cactus industry which is valued at more than US$1.5 billion. Thousands of acres of Opuntia and other cacti are cultivated as vegetables and cattle feed and their by-products are used in cosmetics and dyes.
Mr. Zimmermann, who has worked with the team for three years, said their research mission had two main objectives. ‘Firstly we wish to establish links with our counterparts in the Caribbean islands that have the cactus moth, to study any possible pathway of introduction to Mexico and to study the impact the insect has had on the native cactus flora of the islands.’
Their second objective was to meet and inform Department of Agriculture staff in the Caribbean of the presence of the cactus moth and the threat it holds for mainland America.
‘The Caribbean has very important information on the cactus moth that could be of tremendous value in the overall campaign to control and prevent its introduction to the Americas. This information will help Mexican health authorities design their prevention strategy,’ Mr. Zimmermann said.
Tour of districts
Department of Agriculture Plant Protection Officer Joan Steer accompanied the three scientists on a tour of the eastern districts to look for samples of the cactus.
‘The DoA’s Plant Protection Unit has agreed to provide the researchers with future assistance they require,’ she said. ‘This has been a very educational experience for those of us who didn’t experience the introduction of the Cactoblastis moth in the 70s, and we are now better informed about its history and the cactus experience here.’
The team obtained positive evidence from Cayman that indicated that these Islands would pose negligible risk for the introduction of the moth into Mexico due to the fact that there is no commercial production of the Opuntia cactus here and there is little or no direct trade between Mexico and the Cayman Islands that would create a potential risk pathway at this time. They noted that as in most islands, the cactus has not been commercially cultivated and so there is little awareness of the impact of the cactus moth. Team members took the opportunity to inform local agriculture authorities in the Caribbean about Opuntia and cactus moth, and the threat the moth holds for Mexico.
While on the island the team met with officials from the Ministry of District Administration, Planning, Agriculture and Housing as well as Chief Agriculture and Veterinary Officer Dr. Alfred Benjamin to inform them of their research results. Dr. Benjamin assured the team that government was supportive of their campaign.
‘The Ministry and the Department of Agriculture thank the team for informing us on this important issue and we will fully cooperate in any information sharing with the team in the future.’
Members of the visiting team included Helmuth Zimmermann, expert in biological control of plant invaders (weeds) is from South Africa and is a consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency; Mayra Perez Sandi Cuen foreign consultant of Plant Health General Directorate, Mexico; and Arturo Bello Rivera, Coordinator of the Preventative Campaign Against Cactus Moth in the Plant Health Directorate of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food.
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