Field Update: Sweet Potato Weevil Trial Underway in Yambou, St. Vincent

CARDI St. Vincent is expanding its pest management research under the International Trade Centre (ITC) project! Following the launch of the grub control trial in Queen Drive, land preparation and site clearing have now commenced for a dedicated Sweet Potato Weevil Trial.

Hosted on Josiah Rodney’s farm in Yambou, this experiment aims to evaluate practical, effective control strategies against one of the region’s most damaging sweet potato pests.

Trial Design & Control Methods:

• Treatment 1: Untreated control.
• Treatment 2: Cultural management (organic preventative approach).
• Treatment 3: Biological control (organic curative approach).
• Treatment 4: Synthetic chemical (conventional standard control).

Next Steps:
Lining out and remaining land preparation steps are scheduled for next week, with planting and trial execution to begin as soon as site prep is complete.