Resistant cultivars:

There are no resistant cultivars; however several cultivars have been noticed to be unattractive to mirids. These cultivars have low water content in the shoots and leaves. There is ongoing genomic research into the genotypes of cocoa to look more cultivars that are less preferred by mirids.

 

 

Natural Enemies:

Two of major predator of cocoa pod borer is Oecophylla smaragdina and Dolichoderus thoracicus.  Both are ant specie common throughout Asia and Oceanic range.

 

There has been some exploratory research in Africa into the use of pathogen, especially entomopathogenic fungi, to control mirid populations in cocoa population.

 

 

Pesticides:

Insecticides results in very good at controlling mirid populations, especially in place in Africa.  Use of pesticide to reduce mirid population every year started in the late 1950’s. Either contact or systemic sprays can be used. A foliar contact spray is applied four times a year, a month a part. This spray type is best for younger trees. Systemic sprays are applied two a year. They are used for mature planting of cocoa. The top three recommend sprays include Imidacloprid, Actellic/Talstar and Promecarb. It is important to follow product instruction to result in maximum control and no harmful side-of-effects to humans or the ecosystem.

 

 

Cultural control:

There has been some research into using sex pheromone traps for mirids. The results showed that the sex pheromone traps could work both monitoring and even controlling Sahlbergella singularis mirid populations in cocoa planting. However, it has not been developed for commercial use.

 

Field Evalution of Synthetic Sex Pheromone Traps for Cocoa Mirid Sahlbergell Singularis

 

Since mirids prefer tree exposed to lots of sunlight, keeping a complete shade canopy help reduce population densities. Since cocoa tree prefer lots of shade this works out well. There are a range of tree species used to provide this canopy cover (see the cultivated section in Cultivation and Production of Cocoa for more details in tree species to use). 

 

It is important to limit alternative host in field borders and through the cocoa tree planting. This helps limits their ability to establish within the crop.

 

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