Enhancing the sustainability of cocoa production through biopesticide solutions

在许多可可种植国，迫切需要减少对化学农药的依赖，以控制病虫害，从而有利于人类安全，保护生态系统服务，并改善抗药性管理。因此，这个博士生项目的目的是提高我们对如何成功地将生物农药整合到可可种植系统中的理解。生物农药可以提供一种可持续的替代品，因为它们含有天然来源的活性成分，而不是合成化学品，而且它们不会带来重大的健康、环境、残留和抗药性问题。目的是就生物农药的使用提供明确的指导，以支持可可病虫害的管理和控制。这涉及在印度尼西亚开展工作，利用生物农药田间试验，调查使用生物农药控制四个关键的可可问题，即疫霉、盲蝽和可可荚螟。英国也将有大量的研究时间，主要是以实验室为基础的，以调查生物农药的特点，可以提高其功效，这可能包括对配方，应用，混合物，生理增强，遗传学和生产的研究。该项目将主要以阅读大学农业、政策和发展学院为基础，该学院是全球领先的可可研究中心，也是国际可可检疫中心的所在地。学生还将有机会进行实验室实验，以研究生物农药的发展与他们的共同主管在CABI。工业赞助商是Mondelez International（MDLZ），他们最近在印度尼西亚建立了一个可可作物科学研发技术中心，为学生提供实验室设施以及现场和农场田间试验。

In many cocoa growing countries there is an urgent need to reduce the reliance on chemical pesticides for controlling pests and diseases, to benefit human safety, protect ecosystem services and improve resistance management. Therefore, this PhD studentship's aim is to enhance our understanding of how to successfully integrate biopesticides into cocoa growing systems. Biopesticides could provide a sustainable alternative because they contain an active ingredient of natural origin rather than a synthetic chemical and they do not come with significant health, environment, residue and resistance concerns.This project will explore the strategic application of biopesticides against some of Indonesia's key cocoa problems, with the aim of providing clear guidance on biopesticide use to support the management and control of cocoa pests and diseases. This involves working in Indonesia, utilising biopesticide field trials to investigate the use of biopesticides to control four key cocoa issues, namely Phytophthora, mirid bugs and the cocoa pod borer. There will also be significant research time in the UK, primarily laboratory-based, to investigate features of the biopesticides which could improve their efficacy, this could include studies on formulation, application, mixtures, physiological enhancements, genetics and production. This project will be based predominantly in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading, a leading centre globally for cocoa research and home of the international cocoa quarantine centre. The student will also have the opportunity to conduct laboratory experiments to investigate biopesticide development with their co-supervisor at CABI. The industrial sponsor is Mondelez International (MDLZ) who have recently established a cocoa crop science R&D technical centre in Indonesia, proving the student access to lab facilities and on-station and on-farm field trials.