The prickly pear mealybug has caused devastating losses in Cyprus, destroying up to 80% of plants in some affected areas, while the Department of Agriculture is trying to contain the pest using a beneficial insect brought to the island from Israel.
Speaking on SIGMA’s “Protoselido” programme, Department of Agriculture officer Markos Markou said that based on plantations registered with the Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation (CAPO), around 40% have been destroyed.
However, the situation becomes considerably worse when plantations in Nicosia district that are still being maintained are excluded.
“If the Nicosia plantations are not maintained, we will now reach around 80%,” Markou said, explaining that intensive plantations are essentially the ones that remain, as producers systematically spray and take other measures to keep them alive.
He said that even in plantations where prickly pear mealybug infestations began around a year ago, some growers have managed to keep the problem “at tolerable levels, without excessive financial damage”.
Beneficial insect brought from Israel
As part of efforts to tackle the infestation, Cyprus turned to the experience of Israel, which had imported beneficial insects from Mexico, where the prickly pear originates.
Markou said the Department of Agriculture formally requested that some of the insects be sent to Cyprus so they could be bred and eventually released throughout affected areas.
“We officially requested, as a state, as a government, as the Department of Agriculture, that they give us some as well, that they send some insects to Cyprus so that we can multiply them,” he said.
According to Markou, a professor from Israel visited Cyprus and the beneficial insect was introduced on a trial basis in four areas, three in Nicosia district and one in Limassol district.
“So far the results are satisfactory and we expect, once it multiplies, to distribute it to all plantations and all areas of Cyprus,” he said.
The insect belongs to the ladybird family and acts as a natural enemy of the mealybug. Markou explained that it can locate the pest even beneath the characteristic white, cotton-like substance that protects it.
Severe weather delays breeding programme
Recent severe weather has disrupted efforts to increase the population of the beneficial insect after hitting one of the areas where it had been introduced.
“Unfortunately, the severe weather hit the area where we have established it. We have fallen a little behind, quite a few prickly pears have been destroyed, and the insect has also been affected in terms of its population,” Markou said.
Despite the damage, some of the beneficial insect population survived. Markou said it is now a matter of time before its numbers recover to satisfactory levels.
The severe weather, particularly the hail, also caused significant damage to production. Markou said the main concern was not damage to the prickly pear pads but the impact on the fruit.
“Unfortunately, the hail was so strong and so large that it caused considerable damage. Of course, we are not as concerned about what it did to the prickly pear pads as we are about the fruit,” he said.
The full extent of the damage will be assessed at a later stage, while wounds to the plants have already begun to heal.
Intensively managed plantations are surviving
Discussing the scale of prickly pear cultivation in Cyprus, Markou said there are several dozen professional growers, with plantations ranging from a few decares to much larger areas.
In the past, prickly pears were also widespread in neglected or unmanaged areas, where people could pick fruit for their families. Most of these plants have now been destroyed.
“Now those are gone, they have been destroyed. So only the intensive plantations remain, where producers are fighting tooth and nail to keep them alive,” he said.
How the mealybug destroys prickly pears
Markou explained that the prickly pear mealybug attacks the plant by sucking out its sap, gradually causing it to wilt and dry out.
“This mealybug sucks the sap from the prickly pear,” he said.
When a pad wilts, the plant activates its protective mechanism and sheds it, meaning that “slowly, one pad at a time, they all fall to the ground”.
He also clarified that damage seen on particular fruit during the programme had been caused by hail rather than the mealybug.
Measures growers can take
Markou outlined several steps that owners and professional growers can take to limit the spread of the pest.
The first and most important measure is proper pruning, ensuring the pads do not touch the ground and create conditions that help shelter the insect and allow it to develop.
“The first stage is pruning,” he said.
The second measure is spraying the plants with pressurised water to dislodge populations of the prickly pear mealybug and knock them onto the ground.
“The second thing is spraying with pressurised water, so that we knock down the mealybug populations,” he explained.
Markou added that the Department of Agriculture has found that once the plant has been sprayed with water and allowed to dry, a solution containing soap and vinegar or pure alcohol can then be applied in accordance with the Department’s instructions.
Beneficial insects could reach growers in October
The original plan was for distribution of the beneficial insect to begin earlier, but the severe weather has pushed the programme back by around one to two months.
“We will wait another month or two for the insect to multiply,” Markou said.
The aim is to begin gradually providing the insects to growers towards the end of October, starting with professional producers.
“At the end of October, we will begin cautiously providing them to growers, first to professionals, and next year, when we have a sufficient population, we will provide beneficial insects to our producers and to others,” he said.
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