Phytosanitary risk associated with illegal importation of pest-infested commodities to the South African agricultural sector

Abstract

We evaluated the phytosanitary risk associated with illegal importation of pest-infested plant commodities into South Africa. Samples were collected from different South African ports of entry over 8 years (2011 to 2019) and data were analysed descriptively using Statistical Software Package. Pests were frequently detected on commodity species such as Citrus (18.31%), Zea mays (13.22%), Phaseolus vulgaris (12.88%), Musa spp. (9.15%) and Fragaria ananassa (5.08%). The highest number of pests intercepted occurred on fresh fruits (44.06%), followed by grains (26.44%) and vegetables (14.23%). The most intercepted organisms were Callosobruchus rhodesianus (7.79%), Dysmicoccus brevipes (7.11%), Callosobruchus maculates (6.10%) and Phyllosticta citricarpa (4.74%). The majority of intercepted organisms were non-quarantine organisms (70.50%), followed by pests of unknown status (17.28%), quarantine pests (10.84%) and potential quarantine pests (1.35%). Phyllosticta citricarpa, Bactrocera dorsalis, Spodoptera frugiperda and Prostephanus truncatus were the only quarantine pests intercepted in terms of South African regulatory status. The interception was mainly from southern African countries, particularly Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Eswatini. The findings present the level of phytosanitary risk associated with illegal importation and/or non-compliance in regard to plants and plant commodities from different countries through South African ports of entry. Crop production, biodiversity, food security, existing export markets, and access to new export markets could be threatened as importing countries may impose stringent phytosanitary measures to limit the chances of introduction and establishment of quarantine pests into their territories.

Screening for resistance alleles to Cry1 proteins through targeted sequencing in the native and invasive range of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…However, cases of practical resistance or cross-resistance to Cry1F, Cry1Ab, and Cry1A.105 have been reported in the past decade in Puerto Rico (Storer et al 2010), Florida, and North Carolina in the continental USA (Huang et al 2014), Brazil (Farias et al 2014, Omoto et al 2016), and Argentina (Chandrasena et al 2018). Consequently, while Bt corn could facilitate S. frugiperda control in its invasive range (Van den Berg et al 2021), it is plausible that invasive S. frugiperda could carry Bt resistance alleles from the Western Hemisphere (Botha et al 2019, Tshikhudo et al 2021). Resistance screening is thus critical to determine the level of background resistance in the invasive range of S. frugiperda before a Bt crop is released, and allow proactive implementation of management tactics when resistance increases after Bt crop deployment (Bouwer 2020).…”