Abstract
Sweet potato is an important food crop that is grown widely in tropical and subtropical regions. Sweet potato weevil is the most disastrous pest affecting sweet potato plantations, causing millions of dollars losses annually. An effective integrated pest management (IPM) method will help to prevent economic losses, and it is crucial to understand the factors that contribute to weevil infestation and strategies that are available to overcome them. This review summarizes the (1) mechanisms of action of weevil on sweet potato and (2) contributing factors in weevil infestation, followed by (3) discussion on current IPM practices used in the different regions, including intercropping, entomopathogenic fungi and bacteria, sex pheromones, and pesticides. Lastly, it also focuses on (4) applications of advanced biotechnology and genomics strategies towards reducing weevil’s infestation in sweet potato plantation.
Highlights
Sweet potato is currently ranked as the seventh most important crop in the world with a total production of 103 million tonnes in 2013 [1]
The four main species of weevils that cause the most harm to sweet potato plantation are Euscepes postfasciatus (Fairmaire), Cylas formicarius (Fabricius), Cylas puncticollis (Boheman), and Cylas brunneus (Fabricius) [4, 5]
Jansson et al [61] conducted an experiment to test the effect of entomopathogenic nematodes on C. formicarius and the results showed that the application of entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditidae bacteriophora) consistently reduces damages to sweet potato roots and is suitable to control weevil infestation
Summary
Sweet potato is currently ranked as the seventh most important crop in the world with a total production of 103 million tonnes in 2013 [1]. Due to the severity of this problem, several workshops were conducted by universities in this state to bring together all parties involved to develop plans for pest management in sweet potato production [19] Through these activities, IPM strategies were implemented (such as pheromones trap and usage of selected approved pesticides); farmers were given information about planting strategies (bedding and soil preparation) to minimise infestation and the introduction of sweet potato cultivar with higher resistance to weevils (such as Regal) [21]. Observations from the different regions of sweet potato plantations summarize the factors that can contribute to sweet potato weevil infestation. This information is important as a preventive measure against future infestation
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