Exposition des plantations de palmier à huile au risque de la pourriture du cœur dans le bassin de Quevedo, Équateur

Abstract

The bud rot disease is the main threat to the palm oil industry in Ecuador. In the oil palm production area of Quevedo we evaluated smallholders' sensitivity to the risk of bud rot disease, through interviews conducted with 64 oil palm growers. They showed that only 9% of them implemented preventive measures and 17% adopted curative measures. Only 27% of farmers were aware of the disease and control measures. We used a spatialized typology of smallholdings to identify areas that would be the most sensitive to bud rot. The Northwest of the production area was considered as very sensitive because of a high percentage of family farm smallholdings with old plots managed extensively and with poor phytosanitary control. In contrast, the south of the production area was considered less exposed to the bud rot disease as it comprised mostly of holdings well managed and oil palm growers were well aware of the bud rot disease, with a more intensive management and a regular phytosanitary control.