Unfortunately, the
mealybug is equally capable of traveling via a human vector — and it is now devastating the
cassava (aka manioc or yucca) crop on some 200,000 hectares in Thailand, where some 60 percent of global exports (worth $ 1.5 billion) are grown, according to the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), a Colombia - based research nonprofit focused on reducing hunger and poverty via sustainable agriculture.