Try and Ask Anee Ask one farming question for free

Free farm guides

Crop guides Palay, mais, gulay, coconut, banana How to plant Every crop, step by step Crop varieties Rice, corn, vegetables, fruit trees Land preparation Per crop and per soil Crop pests Insects, kuhol, rats and birds Crop diseases Fungi, bacteria and viruses Weeds and grasses Grasses, sedges and broadleaves Nutrients What each one does, crop by crop Nutrient deficiencies Yellow leaves and their fertilizer Latest in Agriculture Farm news, prices, fertilizer, farm words
Where you farm
International versionClosed for maintenance. It will open again soon.
Log In Get Started
Root Crops Not sure it is this pest? Use the Pest Finder in anee.io ›

Cassava white scale

Stems are crusted with tiny white scales, leaves yellow and drop, and cuttings taken from these stems sprout poorly.

Aonidomytilus albus Insect Fact sheet
A young cassava field, the crop whose stems the cassava white scale crusts over
Photo: Yangi Elizabeth, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Crops it attacks

Kamoteng kahoy Cassava

Where the damage shows

In the stems, vines or trunk

When to act

Check stems before cutting planting stakes. Any stem with white crusts should not be used. In the field, act on the first crusted stems by cutting and burning them.

Before you spray

Field sprays rarely pay. Plant clean cuttings, burn crusted stems, and keep the field and its edges free of old stalks.

How to prevent it

  • Cut planting stakes only from clean, scale free stems.
  • Burn crusted stems instead of leaving them in or near the field.
  • Keep the field and its edges free of old cassava stalks.
  • Plant soon after cutting the stakes. Stakes stored long in dry heat suffer more.
  • Do not plant cassava after cassava in a field that had heavy scale.

Natural enemies and biological help

  • Lady beetles and small wasps feed on the scales. Unsprayed fields keep more of them.

Not sure it is this one?

Many pests look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.

Meet Anee