Abstract
Management of coconut (Cocos nucifera) lethal yellowing disease (CLYD), which has killed about eight million coconut trees in Mozambique, has proved challenging. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of farming practices and related history, on the CLYD incidence in Mozambique. The methodology included a socioeconomic questionnaire to the households and direct observations on the palm farms. The collected data were analysed using logistic regression. Five out of 11 explanatory variables tested, namely farm age, availability of other palm species on the coconut farm, type of coconut varieties grown, root cut practices, and intercropping had a significant (P< 0.05) effect on CLYD incidence. Coconut farms <10 years had higher odds of higher disease incidence compared to the farms between 10 to 40 years old. The presence of other palm species in the coconut farms had two times higher odds of having higher disease incidence levels compared to farms without other palm species. Tall coconut varieties were likely to be more tolerant to CLYD compared to dwarf varieties. Coconut farms with some kind of intercropping had two times higher odds of having higher disease incidence levels compared to pure stands. The practice of cutting coconut roots had three times higher odds of having high disease incidence levels compared to non-practicing farms. Farm age, availability of other palm species on the coconut farm, type of coconut varieties grown, root cut practices and intercropping need to be considered for integrated CLYD management.Key Words: Cocos nucifera, inter cropping, logistic regression
Highlights
The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is a major cash crop in the coastal regions of Mozambique, and contributes greatly to, income and food security of millions of rural inhabitants
Since the tree models explained the same thing, the results could be presented using any of them, but for consistency the results presentation was mainly based on models 2 and 3 since they satisfied all recommendations for trustworthy analyses
Coconut farms of 10 or less years old had about three times high odds of having higher disease incidence compared to the reference (10-40 years old); while coconut farms more than 40 years old had almost 10% lower odds of having high disease incidence than the reference category
Summary
The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is a major cash crop in the coastal regions of Mozambique, and contributes greatly to, income and food security of millions of rural inhabitants. Outbreaks of coconut lethal yellowing disease (CLYD), caused by specialised phytoplasma bacteria, have killed about eight million coconut trees, threatening the industry and the livelihood of over three million people in Mozambique. Phytoplasmas are phloem limited and are transmitted by insect vectors, sucking phloem sap from sieve tubes (Garnier et al, 2001; Weintraub and Beanland, 2006). For control of phytoplasmas diseases, the primary concern is often prevention rather than treatment. Management includes control of the insect vectors and alternative plant hosts, destroying symptomatic plants and avoiding planting susceptible crops (Lee et al, 2000). In Mozambique, the most common CLYD management strategy is cutting and burning of symptomatic coconut trees, suspected to be infected
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