The Apple Snail, Pomacea Canaliculata: an Evidence Note on Invasiveness and Potential
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21 The apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata: an evidence note on invasiveness and potential CABI WORKING PAPER CABI WORKING economic impacts for East Africa Authors Djamila Djeddour Corin Pratt Fernadis Makale Ivan Rwomushana May 2021 Roger Day KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE The copyright holder of this work is CAB International (trading as CABI). It is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial Licence (CC BY-NC). For further details please refer to http://creativecommons.org/license. This paper was prepared as part of the Action on Invasives and Plantwise Plus programmes. Action on Invasives is supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Netherlands Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS). Plantwise Plus, in addition to FCDO and DGIS, is also funded by European Commission Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). We thank the survey respondents, including those whose partial responses have been quoted with their permission. CABI is an international intergovernmental organization, and we gratefully acknowledge the core financial support from our member countries (and lead agencies) including the UK (FCDO), China (Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs), Australia (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research), Canada (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), the Netherlands (DGIS) and Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation). See http://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/ for full details. This CABI Working Paper was internally and externally peer-reviewed. It may be referred to as: Djeddour, D., Pratt, C., Makale, F., Rwomushana, I. and Day, R. (2021) The apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata: an evidence note on invasiveness and potential economic impacts for East Africa. CABI Working Paper 21, 77 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1079/CABICOMM-62-8149 Djamila Djeddour, CABI UK, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, United Kingdom. Email: [email protected]; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1421-4101 Corin Pratt, CABI, CABI UK, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, United Kingdom. Email: [email protected]; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8070-7302 Fernadis Makale, CABI, Canary Bird, 673 Limuru Road, Muthaiga, PO Box 633-00621, Nairobi, Kenya. Email: [email protected]; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6454-7705 Ivan Rwomushana, CABI, Canary Bird, 673 Limuru Road, Muthaiga, PO Box 633-00621, Nairobi, Kenya. Email: [email protected]; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5840- 8058 Roger Day, CABI, Canary Bird, Muthaiga, PO Box 633-00621 Nairobi, Kenya. Email: [email protected]; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-7609 Cover photo: Pomacea canaliculata feeding on rice plants, Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kenya. Credit: Fernadis Makale, CABI. 1 Contents Contents ........................................................................................................................ 2 Abstract................................................................................................................................. 3 Executive summary ............................................................................................................... 4 Acronyms and abbreviations ................................................................................................. 9 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10 1 Rice cultivation and the apple snail problem..................................................................... 11 1.1 History of rice production and trends in Africa ....................................................... 11 1.2 Biology and identification of invasive Pomacea species ........................................ 14 1.3 Invasive apple snail spread around the world ........................................................ 16 1.4 Invasive apple snail host range and general impacts ............................................. 18 1.5 Invasive apple snail impact on human health ........................................................ 20 1.6 Current spread and distribution of invasive apple snail in Africa ............................ 21 1.7 Modelling the distribution of invasive apple snail ................................................... 23 1.8 Environmental suitability for invasive apple snail colonization ................................ 25 2 Impacts of apple snail on rice and other socio-economic variables .................................. 26 2.1 Documented global impacts .................................................................................. 26 2.2 Prediction of economic and yield loss due to invasive apple snail in East Africa .... 28 2.3 Potential impacts of invasive apple snail on trade .................................................. 33 3 Control methods ............................................................................................................... 33 3.1 Chemical control .................................................................................................... 34 3.2 Microbial pesticides ............................................................................................... 36 3.3 Botanicals .............................................................................................................. 36 3.4 Resistant varieties ................................................................................................. 37 3.5 Biological control ................................................................................................... 37 3.6 Good agricultural practice ...................................................................................... 39 3.7 Integrated pest management (IPM) ....................................................................... 41 4 Advice, information and communication ........................................................................... 51 4.1 Sources of information on apple snail control ........................................................ 51 4.2 Criteria for control advice ....................................................................................... 51 4.3 Information resources and tools ............................................................................ 52 5 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 53 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 55 References ......................................................................................................................... 56 2 Abstract The South American freshwater apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck) has been introduced and become invasive in many parts of the world, causing significant economic losses in wetland rice cultivation, threatening biodiversity and impacting on human health. The confirmed report in 2020 of this snail species damaging rice crops in Mwea, the most important irrigation scheme in Kenya, represents a new introduction to continental Africa and brings into focus the need for a rapid and coordinated response to contain and mitigate the risk to other rice schemes, as well as neighbouring countries. This evidence note provides a review of the global invasive spread of P. canaliculata, its biology and ecological adaptability and assesses the risks and potential economic/yield losses for sub-Saharan African rice production over the next decade under different control scenarios. Given the strategic importance of rice production in the region, the potential impacts on food security and farmer income could be considerable. Monitoring, sustainable management and good agricultural practice recommendations are synthesized from established global resources and information is collated to support preparatory action and rapid response. Given the relatively localized distribution of the snail in Kenya, the implementation of a coordinated snail containment and eradication plan is urgently called for, underpinned by countrywide awareness raising, education and outreach to facilitate community-based vigilance and management. 3 Executive summary Background Invasive apple snails commonly referred to as ‘golden apple snails’ (GAS), belonging to the genus Pomacea pose major economic, environmental and health problems across many parts of the world. They have been widely introduced, either intentionally, as a human food resource, through the aquarium trade as a domestic snail pet or for aquatic weed control in both natural wetlands and irrigated rice, or accidentally, through water systems and as trade contaminants. Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck), widely regarded as the most devastating of these pest species, has been identified from Kenyan rice paddies, the first record for mainland Africa. This evidence note provides a summary of knowledge about the invasive apple snail, its impacts and a synthesis of options for management from other affected countries. It is imperative that ecologically and economically sustainable approaches are put into practice for the integrated control of this destructive invasive mollusc species in Kenya, together with the implementation of effective quarantine and contingency measures, to avoid further spread to vulnerable areas of the country and neighbouring rice-growing countries. Strategic importance of rice Rice has