article · American Journal of Entomology
Termite infestations cause rising economic losses in cash crops such as orange, palm, mango, and cashew trees in Benue State, Nigeria. An investigation across 120 orchards examined 2,458 economic trees alongside surveys of 402 plantation owners to assess damage, species, and management practices. Nearly a quarter of the inspected trees displayed visible termite damage, with cashew trees sustaining the highest rate at 37.1 per cent. The predominant pests belonged to the genus Macrotermes, specifically Macrotermes bellicosus and Macrotermes malaccensis. While pesticide application differed significantly from other control methods, plantation owners primarily relied on local experience and indigenous knowledge, which frequently led to ineffective control outcomes. The evidence highlights an urgent need for targeted farmer training and integrated pest management strategies to protect fruit crop yields.
Termite damage to valuable cash crops like cashew, citrus, and oil palm threatens agricultural earnings and food security across rural communities. Demonstrating that almost a quarter of surveyed trees are infested, and that current farmer practices fail to curb the damage, underscores the necessity of moving beyond traditional methods toward scientifically supported pest control programmes.
This baseline field research could guide agricultural extension agencies and agrochemical providers in designing targeted integrated pest management services and training programmes for fruit growers. Because the study focuses on assessing infestation rates and farmer attitudes without trialling specific commercial formulations or products, any potential market solution remains at an early concept stage requiring field testing of integrated intervention packages.
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The emerging economic losses in orange, palm fruits, mango and cashew production due to termite infestation is threatening food and social security in communities in Nigeria where these crops are major cash crops and significant income earner. This study was therefore designed to identify farming practices that create ideal conditions for termite proliferation, evaluate the species diversity and abundance of termites affecting economic trees, determine the financial cost of termite infestation on economic trees in order to develop an integrated strategies for their management. Kwande, Ushongo, Ogbadibo and Oju Local Government Areas which are termite hotspots and fruit-producing Local Government Areas in Benue State were purposively selected. A total of 120 orchards were selected and trees were randomly inspected for physical evidence of termites’ infestation. A structured questionnaire to investigate plantation owners’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices in relation to termite infestation was administered to 402 plantation owners and farmers. Focus Group Discussions, direct field observations, were also conducted in each community and termite samples were collected from infested trees. A total of 2,458 economic trees were inspected across the four study locations, 572 (23.7%) showed visible signs of termite infestation. Cashew trees had highest infestation rate with 37.1% showing evidence of termite infestation. The Genus Macrotermes were the most predominant termites infesting trees with M. bellicosus and M. malaccensis. Orange and mango were predominantly cultivated in Kwande and Ushongo, palm trees were the major economic trees in Ogbadibo. There was a significant association between location of study and types of economic trees (χ2 = 218.323; p = 0.000). There was no significant association between signs of termite infestation and location of plantations (χ2 = 30.107; p = 0.090). There was a significant difference in pesticide application compared to other control methods (χ2 = 33.565; p = 0.014). Farmers termite-related perceptions are significantly influenced by local experience and indigenous knowledge resulting to ineffective control efforts. Our finding justifies the need to build the capacity of farmers and deploy more effective integration of termite control options to mitigate the impact of termite-related fruit production losses in Benue State, Nigeria.
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DOI: 10.11648/j.aje.20250904.13
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