Publications des agents du Cirad

Cirad

Pod borer and pesticides

Ruf F., Yoddang. 2004. In : Ruf François (ed.), Lançon Frédéric (ed.). From slash-and-burn to replanting : Green revolutions in the Indonesian uplands?. Washington : World Bank, p. 147-172. (Regional and Sectoral Studies).

The main objective of this chapter is to demonstrate the efficacy of this combination by using control of the cocoa pod borer (CPB) as an example. The second objective is to analyze the determinants of pesticide adoption and test the hypothesis that pesticide adoption widely depends on a high commodity price and revenue and on the dynamism of migrants who own orchards that are still relatively young. The hypothesis assumes not only a free market for the commodity but also a favorable period in the world price cycle. If the orchard is above a certain age, then difficulties are aggravated because farmers must face simultaneously the aging process and loss of forest rent. Then if farmers encounter a depressed world market for their commodity, production and revenue may enter an unavoidable recession spiral. This is probably true everywhere, but is more of a problem in uplands than in the lowlands. Is not pest control especially costly in farms planted on steep slopes? Can a pest such as the CPB destroy a tree crop farming system in the uplands? What can be learned from this borer infestation? Most of the chapter is based on a comparison of farmer innovations and decisions at four sites in four different provinces in 1996, before the severe 1997 drought. A final section explores what can be leamed from a time series and changes over time in one region, from 1996 to 2001-02.

Mots-clés : theobroma cacao; insecte déprédateur des tiges; helopeltis; système d'exploitation agricole; région d'altitude; pratique culturale; innovation; économie de production; indonésie

Chapitre d'ouvrage