AID grant no. 527-0372-G-00-3299-00 to Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE) : integrated pest management for Andean communities

The project, which will focus on control of the Andean potato weevil and the potato tuber moth, will be carried out by CARE and the International Potato Center (IPC). The principal project activities will include: (1) IPC training of CARE field agriculturalists and extensionists in IPM; (2) training of farmers in pest identification and control options (both cultural and biological); (3) establishment of eight community-managed multiplication centers for propagating biological control agents; (4) implementation of IPM practices; and (5) monitoring of pest populations. One specific aim of the project is to test Beauveria fungus as a control agent. By the end of the project, it is expected that multiplication centers will be fully functioning under community management (in which women will have a significant role), that 2,800 households will regularly practice at least two pest control measures, and that both crop losses (and associated income losses) and pesticide application will have decreased.