Insect infestation ravages North African prickly pear

Amor Nouira, a farmer in Tunisia's Chebika village, has lost hope of saving his prickly pear cacti, ravaged by the cochineal insect spreading across North Africa. The 50-year-old has seen his half-hectare of cactus crops wither as the invasive insect wreaked havoc on about a third of the country's cacti after an outbreak in 2021. "At first, I wanted to experiment with prickly pear production and gradually develop investments while looking for customers outside the country, especially for its natural oil," said Nouira. "But... as the cacti became damaged, I abandoned the idea of investing and stopped thinking about it altogether." Prickly pear is consumed as food and used to make oils, cosmetics and body-care products. In Chebika, as in other rural areas in central Tunisia, many farmers' fields of prickly pear -- also known as Opuntia -- have been spoiled by the cochineal, which swept through North Africa 10 years ago, beginning in Morocco. The insect, like the prickly pear, is ...