Termites as Agricultural Pests in Amazônia, Brazil

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary, qualitative assessment of termite damage in agriculture within the Amazonian region. The vast majority of farms are small holdings, of between 10 and 100 hectares, so no quantitative assessment of losses throughout the region has been attempted. A visual assessment suggests that individual crop losses due to termite attack may be as high as 65%. Current chemical control techniques are reviewed.