Red palm aphid "not a threat to crops"

[NewsWhore]

The Minister of Agriculture has reassured farmers by announcing that the red palm aphid recently found on trees in the garden of the United States Agricultural Department's official in the Arroyo Hondo area of Santo Domingo, was not a threat to their crops. According to Hoy, the official, the USDA's watchdog on plant diseases and other issues that could affect agriculture in the US, found the bright red aphid on a coconut palm tree in his yard. He was accompanied by Colmar Serra, a scientist employed by the National Program for Vegetable Protection. The red aphid can live on coconut palms, plantain trees, banana trees and other crops. However, Minister of Agriculture Chio Jimenez told farmers that the bug was under control and the areas infected were being tightly controlled. It is not considered to be a danger to Dominican agricultural production. A heavy infestation will produce a yellowing of the infected leaves. The aphid is found in most of the Caribbean islands.

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