GRENADA

-- The fight to control the hibiscus mealy bug
which has attacked sugarcane, coffee and cocoa crops
in many Latin' Carribean
countries, seems to he a losing one. Reportedly, the pest
has spread to other areas
causing more havoc. Methods
to contain the spread has
i@Lcliided the use of the
Chinese wasp and a ladybird
beetle. Describing the problem, Janice Reid, an entomologist at the Caribbean
Agricultural Research and
Development Institute, "The
number of these ladybird
beetles is still small because -
they were imported in small
numbers and have to be
multiplied."

Apart from Grenada,
where the bug was first
identified, Trinidad and
Tobago, St Kitts and Jamaica
are also infected. Entomologists believe that the
pest could move on to
Venezuela, Barbados and
St Vincent.

The crop disease has
affected agricultural trade to
a large extent, as many countries have banned the import
of food products from the
affected areas. While the
Cayman Islands has become
the latest country to impose.
the ban, the us department
oIf agriculture is toying with
the idea. Meanwhile, scientists and government officials in the region will meet
shortly to discuss effective
methods to eradicate the
mealy bug.