It was arduous and intense work of more than two years, which involved several trips to the island territory, and which is ending today. This initiative had a great work team led by INIA La Cruz entomologist researcher Natalia Olivares Pacheco. The team of professionals and technicians was made up of Ignacio Ahumada INIA, Rapa Nui, Alejandro Morán, Renzo De Kartzow (external advisor), Aart Osman, Fernando Rodríguez, Alejandra Guzmán, José Montenegro and Antonieta Cardemil. The participation of the INDAP / PDTI and SAG technicians was fundamental, in addition to the support received from the Municipality and the Government of Rapa Nui.

Natalia Olivares comments. “We are very satisfied with the work carried out because the producers were open to the possibility of incorporating new management on their farms and were trained in topics that were not so accessible before and that today, thanks to the permanent presence of the professional Ignacio Ahumada, the farmers remained interested in learning until the end of the project ”.

The project addressed issues of extreme importance to the island's producers. From how to recognize the presence of white pigs in pineapples, where liberations of the predator Cryptolaemus montrouzieri were carried out for its control, achieving a population reduction between 50 and 95%.

In sweet potatoes, studies were carried out on the biology of the sweet potato weevil pest, how to better recognize it and how to start plantations from guides without the presence of weevils. Thanks to these practices, a reduction in sweetpotato crop losses due to this pest was achieved.

In the case of bananas, studies were made of another pest that attacks this crop and is called the black banana weevil. Information associated with the biology of the pest was collected and the most important thing was the management to obtain suckers without the presence of weevils, which implied the development of healthy plants until obtaining fruits. In addition, for its control, pheromone was used to attract males and in this way the presence of the pest in the properties was reduced.

In this way, we can say that it was possible to install a model for the production of vegetables and fruit trees involving around 100 families from Rapa Nui with the only challenge that farmers move towards generating clean food production and with a differential value of exclusivity and quality based on natural and biological processes, reducing agrochemicals and preserving the island's biological diversity as well as caring for soil and water resources.

This initiative involved the installation of demonstration plots in different sectors of the island where a set of practices and tools such as cultural, biological, physical and chemical control, use of biocontrollers and biological pesticides were implemented.

The reality and common practices of each producer regarding the way they manage their crops were respected. Based on this knowledge, work was done to recognize the pests and natural enemies present in the three crops: pineapple, sweet potato and banana, corresponding to the most important with which the technical team worked in this territory.

Natalia Olivares comments: "We hope to have contributed to improving pest management in Rapa Nui by generating a balance where pests, their natural enemies and all the tools we teach are integrated into a harmonious set capable of adapting to climate change."

The technical sheets published during the development of this project were the following:

• Technical sheet 108. Sweet potatoes: How to prevent the attack of the weevil Euscepes postfasciatus? By Alejandro Morán V., Natalia Olivares P., Ignacio Ahumada G. and Antonieta Cardemil O.
• Technical sheet 109. Long-tailed white pig in pineapple cultivation in Rapa by Alejandro Morán V., Natalia Olivares P. and Ignacio Ahumada G.
• Technical sheet 110. Bananas: How to start a banana weevil-free plantation? By Natalia Olivares P., Alejandro Morán V., Antonieta Cardemil O. and Ignacio Ahumada G.
• Technical sheet 111. Black banana weevil in Rapa Nui: Monitoring through the use of pheromones by Natalia Olivares P., Alejandro Morán V., Ignacio Ahumada G.
• Technical sheet 45: Cosmopolites sordidus in banana cultivation by Natalia Olivares
  biblioteca.inia.cl/handle/123456789/67115
• Technical sheet 46: Euscepes postfasciatus in sweet potato cultivation written by Natalia Olivares P., Alejandra Guzmán L., Alejandro Morán and Fernando Rodríguez A.
  biblioteca.inia.cl/handle/123456789/67116
• Technical sheet 47: Chemical control of the Cabbage Moth in cabbage by Natalia Olivares, Alejandra Guzmán and Alejandro Morán.
  biblioteca.inia.cl/handle/123456789/66902
• Technical sheet 48: Recognition of the farm miner fly written by Natalia Olivares, Alejandra Guzmán, Alejandro Morán and Fernando Rodríguez.
  biblioteca.inia.cl/handle/123456789/66903
  

The publication "Pest management in horticultural crops of Rapa Nui", soon to be available in the INIA library, represents a valuable contribution to the management of the main pests in horticultural crops and summarizes each chapter in their language.

INIA

Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) is the main institution for agri-food research, development and innovation in Chile. Linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, it has a national presence and a work team of more than 1,000 highly qualified people. It executes an average of 400 projects per year around 5 strategic areas: Climate Change, Sustainability, Food of the Future, Emerging Technologies, and Extension and Capacity Building. These initiatives contribute to the sustainable agri-food development of the country, creating value and proposing innovative solutions to farmers, strategic partners and society, generating a social profitability that varies between 15% and 25%, for each peso invested in each of its projects.