 A good day again, St. Lucia, and welcome to the program, Agriculture on the Move. I am Philip Sidney, your host. Today with me is Mr. Winston Elliott, who is the Crop Protection Officer, attached to the Crop Research Division in the Ministry of Agriculture. And today we will be discussing three areas of interest. One is our YAMRust, which is just coming to St. Lucia, affecting our YAMS. We also have the South American Palm Weaver, and of course our usual TR-4 because he's the point person for TR-4. And I'm sure you've heard so much about TR-4, but we will still leave an update on TR-4 during the program. Welcome to the program, Mr. Elliott. Good day, Mr. Sidney. Thanks for having me on this afternoon, to be on your program. Great. Well, nothing stops. It's after one is another. TR-4 is on the horizon. The South American Palm Weaver is on the horizon too. I don't know if it's in St. Lucia yet. And of course, look, now we have the YAMRust. So tell us about the YAMRust. Give us a little background of that disease. YAMRust is a fungus. This disease was reported in Dominica two years ago. Right now, this disease is presently on island. We're not sure of what the source is in terms of how it could have gone to St. Lucia, but the modes of transmission vary. But it's a fungus that can thrive in a humid environment. If we notice in the recent past, we've had a lot of rains, a lot of humid conditions. It can be transmitted by wind, by rain, by planting material, a number of different ways that it can be transported from one area to another from one farm. If there is an infected farm, if you move the planting material from one farm to another farm, it can be transmitted by those means. But how do you believe it got in St. Lucia? Well, it could have been transmitted mostly by the planting material. We have a huge challenge. We have very porous borders. Sometimes people try to bring in planting material through by sea, by boat, or even through courier services, through seeds. And this poses a huge challenge for us as an agricultural industry because a farmer or somebody, it can be a traveler, it can be a visitor, bringing it, going somewhere and they see a plant that they like and they bring in that planting material and they do not carry out any the necessary measures to ensure that it's phytosidified from our ministry or the country from which it came. And that creates huge challenges. And that could be one of the ways that it is transmitted from one country, especially through planting material. A lot of the challenges that we have is people moving planting materials and it's not by through wind transmission or animals, but people bringing in those planting materials. The other challenge is that when we bring in, when those planting material get in here, these are invasive species and they can thrive in varying environments. It poses a huge challenge to the agricultural industry because we have to look at, in terms of eradication, it's almost impossible. It is difficult to control. Then we have to go on sanitization campaigns. We have to look at cost of control. That will bring up the cost of the produce itself. We might have to use pesticides, which are harmful to ourselves, to the environment, can also affect biodiversity. What are the symptoms on the leaves? Well, there are yellow to brown pestules that are usually on the upper surface of the leaves. In some cases, you can see it on the side of the leaf, but it's pestules that are more pronounced on the upper surface of the leaves. Sometimes it's noticeable on the stems of the plant, even the leaf stalk, it can be observed in more advanced stages. The rust can be observed. What impact would it have on production? Well, initially, that infection would affect photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the production of food creating the tuber. What you find happen is that the plant would have reduced vigor. It can even make it more susceptible to other diseases like anthrax nodes. We can also have a situation where the tuberization would be affected, so it will not be able to give as big as it should be. That would adversely affect the productivity of that plant. So far, what do you all intend to do? I was told that there will be a survey that you intend to carry out. The ministry is taking a proactive approach, and what we intend to do is what we have been doing, what we have implemented thus far, because this disease was observed about the latter part of last year, and what we have decided to do is carry out an awareness campaign, to sensitize farmers, sensitize the public. There is a lot of movement of people from one island to another, from various parts of, internally also, from various parts of the island. People move in planting materials, so we want to sensitize the public, the farming community, and let them know how that pest can be transmitted from one area to another. So sensitization is a huge role that we will be carrying out. We will also be doing a survey so that we can know to what extent that YAMRUS is presently on island. So do you know exactly now, as we speak, where it is now in terms of zoning? What part of the island is it? Well, so far, we have done a number of farm visits. We have been collaborating closely with our extension staff, and in some areas, within the southern regions and the western regions, we have observed the YAMRUS there. That is why we try our best to ensure that we carry out that sensitization. The survey, to find out what the extent of the problem is, because part of the survey will be asking information like what varieties, that we observe what varieties that have been planted, what extent... Is it affecting all varieties? Yes, that is one of the things our survey will be trying to give us information on, because one of the control measures could be using resistant varieties. But unless we do not go out there and investigate to ascertain to what extent that the problem is and what varieties that might be more prone or more susceptible, more resistant, then we've been in a better position to advise farmers, to advise stakeholders how we... what measures that... what plants that we can use to... that are more resistant. How is that pest identified and where? Okay, basically, like I said, the symptoms, it's a pest that affects yams. And based on looking at the leaves, you can see yellow to browning, rays, pustules on the upper surface of the leaf. What we have done is, when we took samples from the field and we carried out tests at our lab at Union, at the National Diagnostic Facility, and we ascertain that actually it is the presence of that fungus that causes yamrus. It has been there for how long, is it? Well, in the latter part of last year, November, December, that's when we got the reports and over the holidays, you know, it is difficult to get people out to come to meetings and so on. So this is why, you know, we found it opportune right after the holidays to finish implementing a program to create awareness and carry out that survey. So before the survey, you all could not give any sort of identification in terms of whether it really affected production economically? No, well, we have not been able to ascertain to what extent it has affected productivity, because what if I happen with the rest is that it can adversely affect production, but we need to do the survey to find out to what extent that it actually could impact on production, whether it is negatively or to what extent, based on our interaction and the results of the survey. So, okay, after the survey is done, you are able to tabulate the results. Would there be some sort of research, like you mentioned, a variety of trials? Are you all doing field research, planting various varieties and to see whether they are susceptible to that disease? Well, like I said, based on the results, then we'll be in a better position to look at which varieties that probably would be more resistant, information coming from farmers, the persons that people, sometimes even people at the household, we'll be able to get information from them also, and then we'll be in a better position to guide, and probably we might even go into planting some varieties to see what kind of impact it has, the fungus has. Okay, in terms of pest control, is there any chemical that can be used to... Well, we try our best to look at an integrated pest management approach. Now, in terms of that, what we'd like to promote is basically prevention would be one of the key rules in terms of key strategies to use. So, we'd like people to not move in planting material from one farm to another. This is the main mode of transmission. In terms of control, we talk about field sanitation. You have weeds, a lot of weeds. If you notice there are leaves that are infected, you'd remove, if it's not a lot of leaves that are infected, you'd remove those leaves and burn them. We'd also want to ensure that people are not... One of the main things is that movement of planting material from one place to another. The spores can also be transmitted through our shoes, our clothing. The soil. The soil is a fungus. It can move very easily in wind, in rain. And humid conditions, they like humid conditions. They can thrive easily in humid conditions. Although those spores can be very hardy, even in the dry season, they can still thrive. But during the rainy season, people move in from one place to the other because of rain. And also, these are modes that can easily be transmitted from one place to another. What do you mean by that? It affects the soil, right? It affects the plant's soil. Who do you know about the soil? Who do you know about the soil that is affected by the soil? The soil that is affected by the soil is the soil that is affected by the soil. It is a matter that we are not able to do our duty. We are not able to do our duty. We are not able to do our duty. We are not able to do our duty. This is a matter that we have to move forward. And that is what we are going to do, that is what is going to affect the soil. From the day you took the disease to the hospital, you went to the room to see the patient. Since last year we've been observing the patient. We haven't seen him. We've been investigating. We've seen samples. We've seen no other lab. We've seen tests that he said the disease was serious. We've seen a champion that caused the disease. So the woman who told him that. I'm not from this farm, I'm from the extension office. I don't have an eye for samples, I don't have an observation. So where did you come from? Well, I came from a different place. I came from a place that was affected. This is the health side of the country. The country is very poor. We have no problem with the health side of the country. We don't have enough money to pay for it. But the main money that we have, we have to pay for it. So, what do you think about the health side of the country? We don't have enough money to pay for it. We don't have enough money to pay for it. We don't have enough money to pay for it. We don't have enough money to pay for it. The health side of the country is very poor. We don't have enough money to pay for it. But, there is nothing to worry about. Just because the country is satisfied with us, the health side of the country is very weak. Okay, thank you for your break. You are watching Agriculture on the Move, stay tuned, we will be back very soon. For effective chemical treatment of BlackSegaToker, practice routine preventative maintenance of all tools and equipment, especially the mist blower, to ensure proper functioning. Clean sprayer after use and service the machine regularly, as recommended by the manufacturer. Whenever you are using pesticides to control BlackSegaToker disease, personal protection and safety measures must be followed. Pre-operators must always wear proper protective gear. Before or when handling pesticides, put on your overalls, respirator, goggles, boots and gloves to avoid contact with the skin, inhalation and ingestion of pesticides. For more information on how to treat and control BlackSegaToker on your farm or in your backyard garden, contact the BlackSegaToker management unit at 451-5491 or 515-894 or email bpmu at candw.lc. This message is brought to you by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the International Cooperation and Development Fund of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Welcome back to the program, Agriculture on the Move. My guest, Mr. Winston Elliott, crop protection officer, attached to the crop research unit in the Ministry of Agriculture, we are talking about plant rust. We talk about climate change, well boy, we have it bashing as climate change, everything around us, now we have plant rust, yum rust, so we have to be very careful and of course you would, Mr. Elliott, give you a synopsis of what the yum rust is all about and on possible control. In terms of our awareness, Winston, moving forward, what's in place? Well, our crop protection unit has put in a number of strategies to ensure heightened awareness over sustained period. So we plan to have a number of farmer meetings. We have already started making those arrangements, part of those meetings we will involve, having PowerPoint presentations with farmers, field sessions. We will also be doing press releases, we will be doing interviews, releases on the Ministry's website, releases of the newspaper, the outlets, news outlets online and farm visits, home visits, interacting with the farming committee primarily that would be most affected. These are most of our target audience in Karenut Highton sensitization for the yum rust. Okay, so in the meantime, what are you asking the farmers to do? Well, we are asking farmers to be observant. One of the things about crop protection, we always have to observe our crops, monitor our crops on a regular basis. Our yams, monitor them closely if you see any strange symptoms that you're not used to seeing. Contact your nearest extension officer. Do not move planting material from one area to another. You can have infected planting material that can move from one area to another. This is the most pronounced way of the fungus moving from one part of the island to another. It's already in some of the areas we would like to really try and contain it. We encourage farmers not to move planting material from one place to another. It can easily be transmitted in these times that we are in now. There's a very conducive environment for the fungus to thrive and they like living material, plants are growing vigorously now, lots of rain, lots of humidity. The fungus can thrive rapidly. Great. Great. Thank you for that. Okay. So we move from yum rust to the South American palm, weaver. Tell us about this. Well, the South American palm weaver, we had a challenge in 2022 where we had one farmer that had the palm weaver and the South American palm weaver is a weaver that can affect coconuts and it's also a vector too that can transmit red ring disease, nematode, that can destroy coconut plants and that disease can have a huge adverse impact on the entire coconut industry and just think of for a moment us not having coconuts in St. Lucia or you have to pay $5 for coconut because the supply is very limited. So what the ministry did when we realized we had that problem, we got the support of Cardi and ICA, they supported us on this initiative. We went in, we had to fill a number of trees on the farmer's holding and we found it necessary to set up a number of traps island wide. We had traps in all of the eight agricultural regions and we monitored for a period of a year and based on the results of our survey, we realized that while we still have the weavers, you'll find them, they'll find them in a number of areas right across the island. But in terms of creating a problem for coconuts or coconut trees dying or they affecting coconut trees, that is not the case. We have found it necessary that due to manpower resources, we continue monitoring but we're not going to continue monitoring all the traps island wide. We'll continue interacting with farmers, our extension staff will be doing that. Our crop production staff will be doing that but we have found it necessary in one of the regions where the problem started that we're going to keep the traps there because there are still some challenges there. We need to continue monitoring while we continue monitoring in the other regions but we'll keep the traps in those regions where we found the problem initially. What are the real symptoms so that farmers can be aware of that disease? Well the symptoms, the main symptoms would be you find the top of the coconut tree you can see, yellowing of the leaves, the coconut tree will start dying. You might see trees dying sparsely like in different parts of your holding coconut trees. These are the main symptoms that you would experience with the South American palm weaver. So what do you do if that tree is affected? Do you cut it down and burn it or what do you do? The first thing, if a farmer or somebody comes across a tree that has a problem, the best thing to do is contact your extension officer because all the crop production unit we're always ready and willing to support because you might see something and it might not necessarily be that. We'd like to know what the problem is because there are other pests that affect coconuts and other crops so it's always best to contact your extension officer and we come in, we do a farm visit and we take it from there. Yeah but I'm still saying that if it is definitely identified as the South American palm weaver, what do you do? Okay well the measures that we have implemented when we came across that challenge, we had to fell the trees and we burned the trees we burned. So are you saying that disease is not prevalent on Island? We do not have from all indications what our results have shown, we do not have red-ring disease in St. Lucia. We do have the South American palm weaver, you'll find the South American palm weaver all over St. Lucia especially in areas that are close to forest, you will find the South American palm weaver and they live out there, they live, they live, they're part of our ecosystem, they're part of our biodiversity. So it's not all of the time that you'll find that they will adversely affect the coconut trees and cause an impact to adversely have a negative impact on productivity. So we do not have the red-ring nematode disease? No we do not have the red-ring nematode disease in St. Lucia. And it's as a result of the palm weaver, right? Yeah the palm weaver is a vector for red-ring disease. And we do not have the red-ring disease? No we do not have the red-ring disease but we have the vector which is the South American palm weaver which you'll find in the forest, in the farming community, you'll find the weaver out there. But to what extent or damage that the weaver will do to a tree to enable it to fell it? Okay, well the way the palm weaver, the larvae of the palm weaver eats away at the heart of the coconut tree and when it feeds on that as a result of the feed on that, eventually it kills the tree. If it kills the tree then that means the trees of no use, it cannot produce coconuts anymore so it would be best that you fell the tree so that it cannot remain on the farm anymore to allow other trees that are in the area to thrive. Okay, so linear disease can affect the cocoon in St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia or St. Lucia. We're talking about the weaver. The weaver is what we call a tea bed. It's called a tea cowcia. The tea bed is what we call a tea larvae that eats tea cowcia. After that tea goes to tea cowcia and it ends up in the tea cowcia. Tea, tea cowcia, and it ends up in the tea cowcia. And tea cowcia? a shy D-mash. My play a shy egg, one that the farmer, the pep settle to see. But no shy support. A shy similar farmer, ni se Jean customs, ni se Monaca, Taveri's class, but you have a no shy support. So educate collaborative, no public, no. Po try best no po apache shopping, so I will settle to see. I want to continue with this one I want to thank you, because we have come to the end of the program, so I don't know if you have, I guess, a few final words, last 20 seconds. I want to thank you for the people who continue to support us. We have good information and we are happy to cooperate with you. We also want to assist you in making a commission so that we don't have to make any unnecessary mistakes. Thank you Mr Eliott for being here and I wish you success. You have been watching Agriculture in the Move. Thank you for viewing the program. I remember agriculture is our business. So that is why we have to be alert when we look at those diseases that are affecting us. I am Philip Sidney, say goodbye and see you again.