Editing Cassava (section)

=== Insects ===

[[File:A Cassava Pest of the Southeastern Nigeria.jpg|thumb|upright|Grasshoppers, here on cassava in Nigeria, are secondary pests of cassava.<ref name="Alvarez 2012"/>]]

Insects such as stem borers and other beetles, moths including ''[[Chilomima clarkei]]'', scale insects, fruit flies, shootflies, [[burrower bug]]s, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, gall midges, leafcutter ants, and termites contribute to losses of cassava in the field,<ref name="Alvarez 2012"/> while others contribute to serious losses, between 19% and 30%, of dried cassava in storage.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Osipitan |first1=A. A. |last2=Sangowusi |first2=V. T. |last3=Lawal |first3=O. I. |last4=Popoola |first4=K. O. |year=2015 |title=Correlation of Chemical Compositions of Cassava Varieties to Their Resistance to ''Prostephanus truncatus'' Horn (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) |journal=[[Journal of Insect Science (Entomological Society of America)|Journal of Insect Science]]|volume=15 |issue=1 |page=13 |doi=10.1093/jisesa/ieu173 |pmc=4535132 |pmid=25700536}}</ref> In [[Africa]], a previous issue was the cassava mealybug (''[[Phenacoccus manihoti]]'') and cassava green mite (''[[Mononychellus tanajoa]]''). These pests can cause up to 80 percent crop loss, which is extremely detrimental to the production of [[subsistence economy|subsistence]] farmers. These pests were rampant in the 1970s and 1980s but were brought under control following the establishment of the Biological Control Centre for Africa of the [[International Institute of Tropical Agriculture]] (IITA) under the leadership of [[Hans Rudolf Herren]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1995: Herren |url=http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/19871999_laureates/1995_herren/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711200345/http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/19871999_laureates/1995_herren/ |archive-date=11 July 2015 |access-date=29 May 2015 |publisher=The World Food Prize Foundation}}</ref> The Centre investigated [[biological control]] for cassava pests; two [[South America]]n natural enemies ''Anagyrus lopezi'' (a [[parasitoid]] wasp) and ''[[Typhlodromalus]] aripo'' (a predatory mite) were found to effectively control the cassava mealybug and the cassava green mite, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |title=1995: Herren |url=http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/19871999_laureates/1995_herren/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711200345/http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/19871999_laureates/1995_herren/ |archive-date=11 July 2015 |access-date=29 May 2015 |publisher=The World Food Prize Foundation}}</ref>