The Successful Development and Implementation of an Integrated Pest Management System for Oil Palm in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Production and trade in oil crops has expanded in response to an increasing world population and improved living standards. The global production of oil palm has increased rapidly over the last 30 years, and palm oil is now the world's second most important vegetable oil after soybean. Oil palm is an important cash crop in Papua New Guinea (PNG), with about 80,000 ha in cultivation, grown both on large-scale plantations and by smallholders. The principal pests of oil palm in PNG are a group of insect species from the Tettigoniidae family (Orthoptera), known collectively as sexava. Three species of sexava are pests of oil palm in PNG, Segestes decoratus, Segestidea defoliaria and Segestidea novaeguineae. These insects cause damage by feeding on oil palm fronds and defoliation levels can be very severe where high populations occur. Severe defoliation causes reductions in photosynthesis resulting in yield loss from lower fruit production. During the last five years an integrated system has been developed for the management of sexava. This integrated pest management (IPM) system has the following components: (1) a knowledge of the biology and ecology of the pest, (2) economic thresholds, (3) monitoring system for the pest, (4) precise targeting of chemical control agents, (5) biological control, and (6) cultural control. The IPM system is sustainable and environmentally acceptable to the industry.