Haiti - Agriculture : Millet plantations ravaged, huge loss
The Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development informs the general population and players in the agricultural sector in particular that "millet plantations (pitimi) have been ravaged by plagues in several communes of the country, notably in Boucan-Carré, Thomonde, Hinche, Maïssade, Thomassique, Petit-Goâve, Aquin, causing a huge loss of harvest of this cereal in the last three months of the year 2015."
Immediately alerted by the situation, the Ministry commissioned two technical missions to the field respectively in Boucan-Carré and Petit-Goâve to get an idea of the state of the situation. According to experts, these damages were caused mainly by : yellow aphids (Melanaphis sacchari);mealybugs (Pseudococcus sp); whiteflies (whiteflies vaporariorium) and fungi due to food bugs and climate change.
The engineer-agronomist, Lyonel Valbrun states that "following the recommendations of missions, steps have been taken to support farmers victims of this scourge and mitigate initially its effect on the next crop."
