Abstract
AbstractThe objective of this study was to estimate the economic impact of the sugarcane aphid (SCA) outbreak in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), Texas. Local producers were surveyed to gather detailed information about crop production and pest control practices. Collected data were used to estimate the reduction in profit associated with the SCA infestation, as well as the monetary value of the prevented loss attributed to control efforts. Sorghum industry losses were then used to assess the overall economic impact of the SCA outbreak in the RGV economy.
Highlights
Sorghum is the sixth-largest crop produced in the world
The sorghum industry is threatened by a new invasive pest, the sugarcane aphid (SCA), capable of causing substantial damage to crop production (Brown, Kerns, and Beuzelin, 2015; Knutson et al, 2015; Seiter et al, 2015; Villanueva et al, 2014)
The main objective of this study is to estimate the economic impact of the SCA at the farm, industry, and regional levels
Summary
Sorghum is the sixth-largest crop produced in the world. About 105 million acres of grain sorghum were planted worldwide in 2015. Though reported in Hawaii in 1896, it was first documented in the continental United States on sugarcane in Florida in 1977 and in Louisiana in 1999. These infestations were characterized by summer outbreaks followed by winter population decline. It was initially hypothesized that in 2013 the SCA population in the United States underwent an apparent host shift, likely because of a new haplotype introduction or sexual recombinant, resulting in a preference for plants in the genus Sorghum, but not those in the genus Saccharum (sugarcane), causing extensive damage to sorghum while not affecting sugarcane, corn, or wheat. The rapid and widespread infestation by the SCA across a large and climatically diverse geography demonstrates the urgency of economic analysis regarding farm losses and regional economic impacts
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