Economic impact of classical biological control of papaya mealybug in India

Farmers in Tamil Nadu, India began to report that a new pest was affecting papaya (Carica papaya L.) in 2006. Numerous applications of insecticide were made, but papaya losses were severe and the pest spread to several other crops. The pest was identified in 2008 as the papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), and a classical biological control program was initiated. Three parasitoids, Acerophagus papayae Noyes and Schauff, Pseudleptomastix mexicana Noyes and Schauff, and Anagyrus loecki Noyes and Menezes (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), were imported from Puerto Rico in July 2010, and A. papayae was multiplied and released. Excellent control of the papaya mealybug was obtained within five months, pesticide usage was reduced, and production and income were increased. The purpose of this article is to quantify the economic benefits of this classical biological control program. The annual economic benefits for the five most important crops affected by the biocontrol program range from $121 million to $309 million, and the net present value of benefits over five years total $524 million to $1.34 billion. Implications are drawn for biological control programs in other countries.