History and recent development of pesticide usage on cocoa in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper highlights the history and status of pesticides used on cocoa in Nigeriabefore and after the recent European Union legislation on pesticide usage. As a result of an avalanche of insect pests’ infestation and disease infection of cocoa from field to warehouses in Nigeria, the cultivation of organic cocoa is still far from reality, and this has consequently led to farmers’ over-dependence on the use of synthetic pesticides to control these obnoxious pests. The major disease and major insect pest that dominate control practices of cocoa in the field in Nigeriaare Phytophthora pod rot (caused by P. palmivora and P. megakarya) and the brown cocoa mirid, Sahlbergella singularis, respectively. These two organisms can cause substantial yield reduction of cocoa if there is no intervention put in place.

     Over the years, a lot of pesticides have been recommended and used for the protection of cocoa farms from these pests. However, due to the recent ban of most of the pesticides following the EU legislation, very limited pesticides are now available for cocoa farmers to use. Only approved Thiamethoxam and Chlorpyrifos are available for use as insecticides while approved Glyphosate are the only herbicides. Copper sulphate (a well known fungicide) has been banned out rightly along with some other pesticides whose Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) are above those permitted on cocoa beans by the EU. Thus, only ten pesticides (comprising two insecticides for field application, two insecticides for storage pests, four fungicides and two herbicides) are presently allowed for use on cocoa from the vast array available before the ban.

     Nigeria has fixed her MRL on cocoa at the ‘zero tolerant limit’, which by default, is fixed at 0.01 mg/kg. The Country has also advocated for Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) with active campaigns on the need for farmers to adopt GAP in their various farms. Good quality cocoa beans will surely be exported from Nigeria due to adherence to these measures by cocoa farmers.