Contributions of R & D on diseases and pests to the development of the pepper industry in Sarawak, Malaysia

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) was first introduced into Sarawak in the 1840s by the Hakka Chinese, who came to Bau area to mine gold and plant pepper. As pepper cultivation intensified, disease problems were observed. In 1953, a British plant pathologist, Dr. Noel Robertson, was asked by the British Colonial Office to look into a serious root disease affecting pepper in Sarawak. It was only in 1956 that a proper study on this disease was carried out by two other pathologists, Paul Holliday and W. Mowat. This resulted in the etiology being identified as a soil-borne fungus, Phytophthora species. With the set-up of the Plant Pathology Laboratory in 1955 and later the Entomology Laboratory at the Sarawak Department of Agriculture, basic research on both diseases and pests was carried out more systematically. Diseases and pests are the major factors causing crop losses in pepper production. This paper describes the various research findings and the development of integrated pest management packages (IPM), a Malaysian Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) guideline, an interactive artificial intelligence expert system for diagnosing diseases, pests and nutritional disorders of pepper (XCROP-Pepper), as well as the preparation of the Host Pest List for pepper. Recently, Malaysia also contributed to the drafting of the GAP guidelines and IPM package by the International Pepper Community (IPC). These two documents are to be used by member countries of IPC. IPM packages for selected diseases and pests and the GAP guidelines are the keys to sustainable production of quality and safe pepper, which can give Malaysia a competitive edge in global trade. XCROP-Pepper increases the diagnostic capacity of agricultural extension staff and some progressive farmers in solving field problems. In 2004, R and D focused on the development of the Host Pest List for pepper. This is to meet one of the requirements in the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement under WTO. The Host Pest List can be used in pest risk analysis by importers and thus forms part of the negotiation process in international market access. Achievements by R and D on crop protection have thus contributed to the success of the Malaysian pepper industry, which is now one of the world's leading producers and exporters. Sarawak accounts for about 98% of Malaysia's production. The potential areas for future research are also briefly described in this paper.