Validation

How the outputs were validated:

The original DFID programme was assessed by a referee who supported the outcomes and conclusions from the research. She/he concluded that the project made a significant contribution and achieved the majority of the desired outputs. Specific recommendations made by the referee included:

• Further research, through a 1-2 year extension in funding, to refine monitoring techniques, virus production systems and use of field validation trials to confirm and extend the findings from the original research. It was not possible to obtain this funding from DFID, but further work has been done by KFRI using funds from State and Central Governments.
• Dissemination by articles and specific targeting of audiences (both end user and scientific) in India. Focus on "popular" widely-read magazines has been combined with articles in scientific journals.

The referee was uncertain about future uptake in relation to a pilot scale virus production plant. Fortunately, this has been funded by Department of Biotechnology, India and specific improvements made to production systems.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India through its Taskforce on Biopesticides and Crop Management has strongly supported the work. Arising from the outputs of the DFID programme as well as ongoing work at KFRI, DBT has funded a research project and virus production facility.

The Consultative Group for Forestry Research and Management (CGFRM) is an advisory body constituted by the Council for Science, Technology and Environment for KFRI. It assesses and prioritises the research and development programmes for KFRI. They assessed the teak defoliator programme in 2005 and concluded

"Biological control of teak defoliator pests by HpNPV is an acceptable proposition to the Forest Department. But there is a need to popularize the technology among the department staff".

This endorsement was welcomed by KFRI, which accelerated dissemination of the technology.

Most satisfying are comments received from real end-users in the state sector (Kerala Forest Department) and local smallholders, both in Kerala and in neighbouring States. The shift from chemical insecticides to a method that is harmless to users has been particularly well received.

Where the Outputs were Validated:      

Validation has been concentrated in Kerala State, India reflecting the proximity of the KFRI research team and the many teak forests with a range of owners in Kerala.

The Hillside production system addresses the Plantation Forestry commodity base. This Dualistic farming system specifically includes large plantation forests, owned either by the state or commercial forest companies and improvements at this level can provide employment for semi-skilled local workers and so support families.  In contrast, smallholders with a few teak trees in a small plot will be able to realise cash income from selling harvested wood.

Validation has proceeded as the KFRI team have worked jointly with the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Trivandrum to improve monitoring and virus production (this joint work has been funded and validated by DBT). They have also carried out field demonstrations and encouraged uptake (with endorsement from both private owners and Kerala Forestry Department).

Outputs from the programme have been exposed to peer review through a variety of journals, publications and presentations resulting in positive feedback from plantation owners as well as the scientific community. Examples of publications and meetings include:

• Pest Management in Tropical Forest Plantations (2002). FORSPA Publication No 30/2002
• Sudheendrakumar, V.V. (2002) Current status of microbial control of forest insect pests. In Proceedings of the ICAR-CABI Workshop on Biopesticide Formulations and Application. 107-116.
• Nair, K.S.S (2005) Pest factor in the intensification of teak cultivation: a global assessment. In Quality Timber Products of Teak from Sustainable Forest Management. Proceedings of the International Conference on Quality Timber Products of Teak from Sustainable Forest Management. KFRI, Peechi, Kerala, 445-452.
• Sudheendrakumar, V.V., Sajeev, T.V., Varma, R.V., Biji, C.P. and Mahiba Helen, S. (2006) Current status of the use of baculoviruses for management of forest insects pests in India. XII Silvicultural Conference, FRI, Dehra Dun. p. 18.

Current Situation

Who are the Users?

Currently, IPM of teak defoliator moth is mainly through direct intervention by KFRI scientists within the forests owned by Kerala Forest Department. Staff of the Forest Department have been trained in the methodologies and are also disseminating the information about IPM of teak defoliator. Delivery is through employment of staff to monitor the arrival of the moth and direct liaison with KFRI staff who deliver the virus preparation, assess the site characteristics and oversee the spray operation. At this stage, this serves both to manage the moth population and also to reinforce and extend the training already delivered (see above).

There has also been demand from an early adopter in Chhattisgarh State who was keen to develop non-chemical management regimes for teak defoliator moth on his 15 hectare teak plantation. This teak farmer approached KFRI directly and has successfully used the virus on outbreaks in both 2005 and 2006. He was trained in the processes of monitoring and spray application by KFRI staff, but carried out the spray operations using his own staff, employed specifically for management of his small teak plantation. He is also enthusiastically pointing out the virtues of the system to others in Chhattisgarh State.

Where the outputs have been used:

The outputs are being used mainly in Kerala State where, apart from the trials that were set up to establish parameters for virus use, there have been treatments of young teak plantations each year from 2000 to 2004. Further details of the scale of use and specific locations are shown below.

Outside Kerala, the IPM approach and final application of virus has been used successfully by one teak farmer in Chhattisgarh State in 2005 and 2006.

Scale of Current Use:

The DFID programme of research into IPM of teak defoliator concluded in 1998, and since then, a virus production facility  was established and completed in 2000. This allowed scale up of virus production and a programme of field applications commenced soon afterwards. The applications in Kerala State have been as follows:

15 hectares of a small privately owned teak plantation in Chhattisgarh were treated in each of 2005 and 2006. This owner is likely to continue to use the IPM process and is helping dissemination by talking to others about the success of the programme.

Policy and Institutional Structures, and Key Components for Success:

A key factor in the process of adoption of the outputs from the programme is the desire to reduce chemical insecticides and to promote an environmentally benign pest management strategy. Kerala State has a positive policy to promote biological control strategies and this is echoed in Kerala Forest Department, which is currently the largest user of the IPM approach.

With an important state-wide early adopter actively employing the outputs and also promoting their use, the extension of use to other users, both smallholder and private sector teak plantation owners is gradually taking place.

Platforms for dissemination of the IPM approach have included a number of meetings, national and international conferences and direct workshops for potential end users. This has resulted in knowledge transfer to the staff of Kerala Forest Department who are, in turn, advocating the approach to private teak plantation owners within Kerala. This is accelerating the uptake of monitoring and has fostered a desire to employ virus control to replace any chemical insecticide regimes. The use of training materials in Malayalam, the local language of Kerala, has helped this process.

There has also been direct interaction between KFRI staff and private owners, notably some of the newer companies dealing with intensive teak monocultures. These companies now employ staff specifically to monitor for early arrival of the moth and are keen to employ the virus for management of the pest threat.

Lessons Learned and Uptake Pathways

Promotion of Outputs:

Promotion has been concentrated in Kerala State.

Workshops

• Monitoring (March, 2004) attended by 68 Forest Department Staff, including Range Officers, Foresters, Forest Guards and Field Watchers.
• Application (May, 2005) attended by 62 staff, as above.

Training Manuals

• Teak Defoliator and Its Control.

Part 1 -  Detection of teak defoliator outbreaks. Part 2 - Application of HpNPV. Written in Malayalam (local language of Kerala State).

Distributed to Workshop participants.

Booklets

• HpNPV Technology (jointly published by KFRI and Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in 2005)

Other promotional material

• Posters/papers at national and international conferences.

Film

• "Teak Defoliator Management" film has been distributed to Kerala Forest Department and stakeholders within Kerala and to a Film Festival on Forests and Wildlife in Delhi in 2005.

Media

• Press interest in both local and national newspapers. For example, The Hindu (national newspaper) reported positively on the work in December 2003 (arising from an international conference on teak at KFRI) and in July 2006.

Conference

• Quality timber products of teak from sustainable forest management conference jointly organised by KFRI and International Tropical Timber Organization. Held at Peechi in December 2003 and proceedings published in 2005.

Potential Barriers Preventing Adoption of Outputs:

An important barrier to creating demand for the IPM methodology is that the effects of infestation by the moth, namely loss of growth and yield, are not recognised. However, the dramatic defoliation that occurs during mass attack by the moth is easily recognised and there is certainly a desire to manage the problem once this is noted. The key is education to show that early detection and treatment will not only prevent defoliation but also bring benefits in faster growth, greater yield and a reduction in distortion of the tree.

Consequently, commercial teak plantation owners will be most aware of the losses they are suffering and so quickest to realise the potential for increased profit. This will have a beneficial result by increasing local employment of poor people to monitor and carry out routine tasks.

This lack of awareness that defoliation should be controlled is even greater outside India, particularly in Africa where the status of the moth and, therefore, its impact is virtually unreported.

Critically, smallholder teak farmers are unaware of the effects of attacks by the moth. They may not react to defoliation or, worse, may apply insecticides indiscriminately with poor efficacy and increased risks to their health.

How to Overcome Barriers to Adoption of Outputs:

A concerted knowledge transfer campaign targeted specifically at key employers in the teak forest industry should be established to indicate the gains in yield and quality to be achieved by managing the moth.

Encouragement of early adopters in the main teak growing countries (particularly Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nigeria and Ghana) so that user 'pull' can replace the current provider 'push'. This should result in increased demand for implementation and increased employment of staff to carry out monitoring, local virus production and field application.

In order to achieve widespread awareness of the challenge presented by teak defoliator moth, local smallholders will need to understand the damage it causes and that the IPM method will be cost-effective for them.  The level of general education is an important factor.  When dealing with smallholders who grow mainly agricultural crops, combining forestry practice extension with existing agricultural extenstion will be advantageous, particularly if there is trust in the current extension workers and their recommendations.

Technical capacity: the most critical factor would be the setting up of local virus production facilities including skill and quality control infrastructures. The expertise to set this up and provide continuing technical support is already available through KFRI.

Lessons Learned:

Even with the relatively high level of education among the poor within Kerala, it is not easy to target them specifically either as direct smallholder growers of teak or as employees of larger teak growers. This would be even more difficult in regions and countries where the poor are less well educated.

One key to providing greater benefits to poor people from the outputs is, therefore, to encourage larger teak growers, as the employers, to recognise the value of controlling the moth and, therefore, that the return on an investment in more staff would be covered by greater yields from the teak crop. This yield gain can be in volume, quality and shorter rotation time or a combination of all three. In the typical locations where teak is grown, the greatest pool of labour will be with the rural poor where any form of employment can be difficult to obtain.

An excellent example is provided by the smallholder teak farmer in Chhattisgarh who has recognised the value both of controlling the moth and of using the baculovirus as an effective, environmentally sound control measure. His enlightened approach has resulted in the employment of 6 labourers per day for 300 working days per year, with a high proportion of this related to monitoring and management of teak defoliator moth. Expansion of such successes would result from further specific targeting and also through word of mouth exchange of information with other users local to the early adopters of the outputs in the region, possibly also through exchange visits. As indicated in questions 9 and 22, smallholders in Thailand would also be potential adopters of the IPM approach.

Impacts On Poverty

Poverty Impact Studies: 

Formal poverty impact studies have only been carried out recently.  The economics of mass production of NPV of teak defoliators using laboratory larvae compared with larvae collected in the field from teak plantations highlighted a marginal difference in cost of Rs. 279 and Rs. 317 respectively for treating 1 hectare of infested forest.

In relation to poverty alleviation, a socio-economic analysis of the entire labour force in the operation run by KFRI has been undertaken. The workers were categorised in relation to the production, monitoring and application segments.  Production of the formulated product continues all through the year, while the monitoring and field application segments are seasonal over a 6 month period during the teak growing season. A total of 3234 days of work has been generated annually at Nilambur, Kerala, which is divided as follows:

It is significant and typical that the production segment is dominated by female employees who show great aptitude for the work and, in many cases (see below) are the heads of their households and see this employment as vital for family wellbeing. The programme has been shown to promote development that is sustainable, not just ecologically and environmentally, but also institutionally, socially, and economically. It was also found to produce positive livelihood outcomes (e.g., adding to income, health, food etc.). The main impact of the programme is on the labourers (mainly unskilled) involved in the production stage, who are all women.

The HpNPV mass production, spraying and monitoring is an adaptive strategy for all the people involved, who have given up certain other activities (like other unskilled labour work and forest activities such as sand mining) to be part of this highly skilled job. For the majority, it is currently a minor coping strategy because of the small scale of production and provides additional income to supplement other activities. At present it does not substantially alter their livelihood situation but, nevertheless, it has immense potential as a development strategy.

A. SOCIOECONOMIC ASSESSMENT

The socioeconomic assessment related to the HpNPV programme was carried out amongst groups involved in the three main elements of the IPM system, viz., the Production, Monitoring and Spraying groups consisting of 26, 11 and 4 units (household is the unit of study) respectively. A direct questionnaire survey was conducted for primary data generation. In summary, the survey indicated that the groups were classified as moderate poor. Of the three groups, the production group (basically only women) benefits most by way of a regular source of income.

The descriptive statistics of the target groups indicated an average family size of 5.3, the sex ratio (on par with Kerala State) is 1438 female per 1000 male population. Of the total population of 219 from 41 households, females constituted 46 per cent, males 32 per cent and children 22 per cent. Interestingly, 25 of the households were headed by woman. Key statistics gathered during the survey were:

• Education; the level of education does not indicate a satisfactory figure. A low literacy rate was recorded among the target groups.
• Health; common aliments noted were fever, common cold, headache and diarrhoea. They rely on allopathic medicine for treatment.
• Income; the average household income was estimated as Rs.3838, of which income from wage labour constituted 84%. With the Cooperative Bank the major credit provider, 60% of the target group are indebted.
• Employment; the employment structure depicts a dominance of the primary sector with 38 per cent unskilled labourers, indicative of a backward economy.
• Land occupation and use; the average land holding is 48 cents (1 cent = 0.2 ha). Only 50% of the sample possessed livestock. The major fodder source is the natural forest (82%) and the remaining fodder dependence is from their homeland and stall feed. Dependence on natural resources is determined by the socioeconomic conditions of the target group. Firewood, a major requirement of the target group, is usually gathered from the forest which is an open source for the people. Besides these, the energy for cooking and lighting are kerosene (29%) and electricity (71%)

B. THE COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF NPV

There are three stages in the application of NPV - Production, Monitoring and Spraying. The CBA of different stages has been carried out to understand the net benefit of the product. The fixed investment includes the capital investment of different machinery used in the stages of production and for application of the product.

Depreciation of the capital investment is set at 2 per cent per annum. The aggregate and net benefits are Rs. 75000 and Rs. 41360 respectively.

The survey indicated that the product has no social and environmental side effects and thus the social and environmental cost of the product is zero.

The direct benefits of the application, based on prices in Kerala State: 

• Generates 95.1 working days per hectare @ Rs. 118.3 per man-day. Labour cost is an addition to the wider economy; i.e. a positive impact of the product by way of societal welfare (employment and income),
• Zero health hazard for the labourers,
• Pesticide avoidance leading to maintenance of natural enemies of the pest,
• Maintenance of the plantation as a common property resource facilitating community activities such as grazing,
• Increased productivity @ 3 cu m of wood / ha / year. To place this in context, the average yield of teak is shown in the Table below. It can be seen that a loss of 3m³ per annum is extremely significant, particularly in areas where teak is growing poorly in any event.

TABLE. Mean Annual Increment (MAI) maximum and at 50 years rotation age for different site classes (m³/ha/year), from Pandey & Brown (2000).

^a Yield tables have been prepared based on an inadequate number of sample plots and are provisional.

 The indirect benefits of the output.

• Better living conditions can lead to better health workers,
• Increased productivity can reduce the total area under plantation making way for increased area under natural forests,
• Maintenance of ecosystem health.
• Carbon sequestration is increased, thus reducing CO₂ emissions.

How the Poor have Benefited (including gender and other poverty groups):

Positive impacts on livelihoods based on the key capital assets and outputs of the IPM Programme are as follows:

Human assets:    

It helps to diversify income. For example, within Kerala the income from this activity has been used for school fees.

Physical assets:  

Income is used primarily to buy food stocks.

Financial assets:  

Marginally increased by being able to borrow further funds, mainly because of a steady source of income. This helps the poor to maintain liquidity.

Natural capital:     

The IPM Programme has contributed to the protection of forests by way of creating a consciousness among the groups regarding the pest management programmes, leading to improvements in general ecosystem health. A long term assurance that the programme will continue will encourage the younger generation to become familiar with the whole concept, thereby leading to conservation and protection. The specific effect is that the workers gain access to forest for collection of larvae and become more familiar with forest health issues.

Social capital:

Development of a new group of producers, gradually making them self-sustainable. This would allow them to gain power within the community and increase access to external agencies at local and regional levels; e.g. to KFRI and Kerala Forest Department.

Fifty-one people (27 female and 24 male) have been direct beneficiaries during the pilot scale implementation of the technology within Kerala.

The rate of pay for employment on the programme is on par with the rates normally paid by Kerala Forest Department, i.e. an average of Rs. 118 per day. In that sense there is no increase in average pay, but the more certain level of employment, particularly in the production segment is a positive gain.

By contrast, the small farmer in Chhattisgarh State, although employing staff specifically on the IPM programme, pays only an average of Rs. 30 per day. However, the buying power of this wage is likely to be greater in that area, although no formal assessment of this has been carried out. In this respect, it is interesting to note that workers from other States tend to migrate to Kerala to fill the lowest paid jobs as local workers gain better paid employment and 'move up the ladder'.

Environmental Impact

Direct and Indirect Environmental Benefits:

The IPM process that is the key outcome of the programme is environmentally benign in that it uses a baculovirus that occurs naturally in the teak defoliator populations; the original isolate of the virus was discovered by KFRI scientists. This is highly specific and does not affect other non-target species, even in the Lepidoptera, within the ecosystem. The approach is supported strongly by both Kerala State and by the Central Government of India. Apart from being a biorational method of pest control, the virus replaces an intermittent regime of chemical insecticide use against teak defoliator moth. Two insecticides have been used in recent years; endosulfan, an organochlorine, and quinalphos, an organophosphate. Both are highly toxic to a range of organisms, including non-target bees, fish, birds and mammals. Their use is normally highly regulated and, for example, endosulfan has been banned in a number of countries across the world.

Kerala State policy is to reduce chemical insecticide usage. In the light of particular concerns expressed about the use of endosulfan, which has been the subject of a study on impacts on human health in protection of cashews against insect pests, Kerala has banned this insecticide. Aerial application of insecticides, which would be particularly applicable to control of forest pests and has previously been tested against teak defoliator moth in 1965, has also been banned within Kerala.

The IPM approach is, therefore, fully compliant with Government policy.

Adverse Environmental Impacts:

There are no adverse environmental impacts related to the output and outcome. As explained above, the approach is environmentally sound and offers positive benefits in reducing chemical insecticide usage.

Coping with the Effects of Climate Change, or Risk from Natural Disasters:

In relation to climate change, the increase in yield of the teak and use for building and other long-term uses, will lock more carbon and hence reduce CO₂ emissions relative to unprotected teak.

There is a strong market in developed countries for tropical hardwoods, much of which is supplied by unsustainable destruction of primary forests across fragile ecosystems.

Improving the safety and productivity of plantation production of teak will:

• Encourage a market in sustainable building and wood products
• Make uncontrolled felling of primary forests less cost-effective
• Diversify smallholder income
• Contribute to carbon sequestration and could provide carbon credits as a further means of income generation

Avicennia marina is a major component of the fragile mangrove ecosystem and is attacked by teak defoliator moth. This would be a potential further application of the IPM system.

Annex

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mittelman, A. (2000) Teak planting by smallholders in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. Unasylva 201, 51; 62-64

Pandey, D. and Brown, C. (2000) An overview of global teak resources and issues affecting their future outlook. Unasylva 201: 51; 3-13

Sakchoowong, W. (2002) Effects of entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae) on teak defoliator (Hyblaea puera Cramer, Lepidoptera: Hyblaeidae) in laboratory.  In Pest management in Tropical Forest Plantations eds Chaweewan Hutcharern, Banpot Napompeth, Gillian Allard & F. Ross Wylie FORSPA Publication No 30/2002).

UNESCO1 (2006) Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2006, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific.

UNESCO2 (2006) Achieving the MDGs in Asia: A case for more aid? - United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific, April, 2006

Relevant Research Projects, with links to the
Research for Development (R4D) web site
and Technical Reports:

R4D	Project Title	Technical Report
R6295	Use of Baculovirus control agents within an integrated pest management strategy against teak defoliator, Hyblaea puera, in India