{"id":12877,"date":"2026-06-20T12:25:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/saving-the-african-pod-of-protein-from-bugs-the-journey-so-far\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:43","slug":"saving-the-african-pod-of-protein-from-bugs-the-journey-so-far","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/saving-the-african-pod-of-protein-from-bugs-the-journey-so-far\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving the African pod of protein from bugs &#8211; the journey so far"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The prospects of a scientific breakthrough in the biological control of the cowpea pod borer, <em>Maruca vitrata<\/em> are high under the collaborative efforts of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)  and the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under a special project funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, scientists from both organizations have identified potential c andidates that can be deployed from Taiwan to West Africa for the control of this pest. Among the promising beneficial organisms, a small parasitic wasps, <em>Apanteles taragamae<\/em>, has already been introduced to the IITA-Benin insectaries  and experimentally released in Benin  and Ghana. The adult females of this parasitoid lay eggs into the body of <em>M. vitrata<\/em> larvae, which are subsequently killed as the parasitoid develop  and emerge to form a cocoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cowpea, otherwise known as black-eyed pea is a protein rich crop whose value lies in its ability to grow  and fix nitrogen to improve soil fertility in marginal areas. It is also tolerant of drought. Most of the world\u2019s cowpea is grown in West  and Central Africa, where many people cannot afford protein foods such as meat, egg  and fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/image_gallery-8.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-9272\" src=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/image_gallery-8.jpg\" alt=\"image_gallery-8\" width=\"140\" height=\"112\" \/><\/a>he poor yield of cowpea is attributed to a series of insect pests  and diseases, the most devastating being <em>M. vitrata<\/em> which attacks cowpea flowers  and pods. Over the years, IITA scientists have attempted to improve the crop through host plant resistance breeding but their efforts did not yield appreciable results. Efforts have also been made lately to develop transgenic cowpea but here there are biosafety regulatory huddles to cross. None of the cowpea producing countries of West  and Central Africa has yet regulatory laws on the application of biotechnology tools to improve food crops. To-date, the yield of the crop has not exceeded 400kg per hectare without the application of insecticides. In fact, synthetic pesticides recommended for use in cowpea can effectively control <em>M. vitrata<\/em> in the field. However, apart from environmental  and human health concerns, there are also socio-economic implications that make the use of chemical pesticides problematic. Among these are low level of farmers\u2019 education, lack of capital, high prices of pesticides, lack of input market  and access to recommended pesticides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Maruca vitrata<\/em>, the pod borer is undoubtedly the most economically important pest affecting cowpea yields. In West Africa, <em>M. vitrata<\/em> is attacked by various indigenous parasitic wasps, but none of them has been found to be efficient in reducing its population. According to Dr. Manuele Tam\u00f2, IITA entomologist \u201can entomopathogenic Cypovirus affecting the larvae of <em>M. vitrata<\/em> has also been discovered here in West Africa, but its sublethal character has been found to be of little practical interest. However, a much more virulent Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) affecting <em>M. vitrata<\/em> has recently been discovered by AVRDC scientists in Taiwan. \u201cWe are currently studying this virus in controlled experiments at IITA-Benin,  and preliminary observations indicate a high potential as a biopesticide for the control of <em>M. vitrata<\/em>.\u201d, says Manuele<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In sub-Saharan Africa, a continent often ravaged by civil strives  and natural disasters such as drought  and soil infertility, malnutrition is common especially among war refugees, rural peasants  and the urban poor. Cowpea with about 27% protein comes h andy as a cheap source of protein in the continent. It is expected that in the near future when IITA  and AVRDC perfect the environment-friendly biological control method to check the menace of M. vitrata, the abysmally poor yields of cowpea will be improved to reduce malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The prospects of a scientific breakthrough in the biological control of the cowpea pod borer, Maruca vitrata are high under the collaborative efforts of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC).<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[26],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[67],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[185],"class_list":["post-12877","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","location-benin","crop-cowpea","item-year-185"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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