A tiny bug that has mystified Texas farmers and agriculture researchers is threatening to eat a big hole in the state's economy.
According to a news release from Texas A&M University, the insect of unknown origin - which measures about 1/16 inch - is poised to inflict big damage to the billion-dollar Texas grain sorghum crop. "For now, we're calling this pest the sugarcane aphid," Raul Villanueva, an entomologist with A&M's AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, said in the release. It was first seen last year, but researchers don't know if it's new or if it just switched hosts, from sugarcane to grain sorghum, Villanueva said. Grain sorghum in Texas is typically used in cattle feed. It's a relatively inexpensive crop and easier to grow than cotton, the release said. Now, there's no approved control for it, although an insecticide called Transform WG was found effective against it, Villanueva said.
The Texas Department of Agriculture has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an emergency exemption to use Transform WG on grain sorghum, the release said. Researchers are also considering using the insect's natural enemies, such as ladybugs, lacewings and sweat flies, Villanueva said. But sugarcane aphids reproduce so fast, these biological controls may not be effective, he said. The sugarcane aphid was first detected in 1977 in Florida, where it stayed until 1999, when it showed up in Louisiana. It was well established in the two states but didn't cause major crop damage, according to the release. Suddenly last year, the sugarcane aphid was discovered in grain sorghum in the Beaumont area, as well as other parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Mexico, Villanueva said. It quickly caused severe damage in all these areas, he said. "In some fields, crops were completely wiped out," he said.
This year, Texas is expected to have an especially large sorghum crop, with some growers switching to it because of drought and good grain prices, the release said. Statewide, the grain sorghum crop is worth $974 million to growers, with a total economic impact of $2 billion, according to Luis Ribera, an AgriLife Extension agricultural economist in Weslaco.
Source - http://www.chron.com/
USA - Mysterious pest threatening billion-dollar Texas crop
