Aspergillus Species Colonization of Termite-Damaged Peanuts in Parts of West Africa and Its Control Prospects

Abstract

A survey of farmers' peanut fields in Benin showed that Aspergillus flavus Link ex Fries infection was influenced by Microtermes (Isoptera: Termitidae) damage. Field trials conducted at the ICRISAT station and a farmer's plot in Mali on termite damage and Aspergillus spp. infection showed that peanut plots treated with carbofuran at planting and supplemented with chlorpyrifos at 40 days after planting (dap), or treated with only chlorpyrifos at 40 dap, significantly reduced pod damage by the termite M. lepidus Sjöstedt. and colonization by A. flavus. The cultivar ICG 10946 which had significantly more A. flavus (P < 0.05) also had a higher percentage of damaged pods compared with the other cultivars at the on-station trials. The least infected cultivar in all the trials was 47–16 which also had a comparatively lower percentage of termite-damaged pods, although this was not significant. However, termite damage was correlated with A. flavus percentage colonization.