A mite (Mononychellus tanajoa) native to South America that was accidentally introduced to Africa in the early 1970s, where cassava, a staple food crop for hundreds of millions of people, had no natural resistance. It causes leaf mottling, stunting and yield losses that have at times exceeded 80 percent in heavily infested fields, and a classical biological control program using South American predatory mites remains one of agriculture's larger successful biocontrol efforts.
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Cassava, Crops The cassava green mite is a major pest reducing cassava yields across sub-Saharan Africa.
Source Hans Rudolf Herren (Wikipedia)
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1. Cassava Green Mite (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOpening definition paragraph
Manihot esculenta, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca, is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root.
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A mite (Mononychellus tanajoa) native to South America that was accidentally introduced to Africa in the early 1970s, where cassava, a staple food crop for hundreds of millions of people, had no natural resistance.
View the Source Hans Rudolf Herren (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Hans Rudolf Herren, Publications list, Herren 1987 reference titleQuote, Associated With: Hans Rudolf Herren, Publications list, Herren 1987 reference title
Africa-wide biological control project of cassava and cassava green mites: A review of objectives and achievements.
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