Stopping the coffee berry borer in its tracks

development

projects

locations Indonesia, Papua New Guinea dates June 2008 – June 2013 project team Soetikno S Sastroutomo Martin Kimani Keng-Yeang Lum Sean T Murphy George Oduor Bryony Taylor

stopping the coffee berry borer in its tracks

Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in world trade, earning crucial foreign exchange for developing countries. Its cultivation, processing, trade, transportation and marketing provide employment for millions of people worldwide. However, there are numerous threats to production; especially pests and diseases which, if left unchecked, can decimate crops.

so what’s the problem?

The coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei ) is the world’s most widespread and damaging insect pest of coffee.

It develops inside the maturing coffee berry, making it difficult for farmers to control and causing the beans to weigh less and drop prematurely, resulting in a reduction in quality for harvestable berries. Production losses of at least US$500m per year have been estimated. Although the incidence of coffee berry borers varies, the pest can cause severe economic hardship in heavily affected areas.

what is this project doing?

This Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded project applies CABI’s vast experience in coffee berry borer management to address the problem in Indonesia and prevent it occurring in

KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE

Papua New Guinea. We are doing this by encouraging better management, and by putting in place prevention and incursion procedures where the pest is not yet known to occur.

Coffee berry borer management in Indonesia emphasizes situation-specific surveillance and awareness, appropriate integrated pest management research (such as cultural methods including crop sanitation and pest trapping), and the application of biocontrol agents. We will also use a participatory approach to train farmers in the latest technology. Indonesian farmers’ practical knowledge of coffee berry borer and its management has already significantly improved, following on-farm participatory trials and training.

In Papua New Guinea, we are emphasizing quarantine procedures where we are building capacity, encouraging early detection and emergency responses.

results so far Much has already been achieved in this project. Master facilitators have been trained in integrated pest management (IPM) for coffee, with particular attention to the coffee berry borer and how to control it effectively and sustainably. Similarly, farmer field schools have been run to good effect. We have found that a combination of treatments, including pruning, sanitation, application of Beauveria bassiana (a fungus) and attractant (ethanol-methanol) trapping, gives the highest profit margin.

Two integrated pest management trials have been run in Indonesia to good effect and the results presented along with further information about the pest at the International Association of Coffee Sciences (ASIC) meeting.

Detected in Papua New Guinea in 2009 (on the border with Indonesia) and successfully contained and eradicated, the team sought the coffee berry borer’s possible route into the country. Three pathways were identified; human movement; export and import of coffee; and internal movement of coffee. Based on these, surveillance strategies and sampling methods for the pest have been developed for implementation.

The team is also producing materials to help build public awareness of the pest on the border between Papua New Guinea and Papua in Indonesia.

www.cabi.org/cbb partners Indonesian Coffee & Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI) PNG Coffee Industry Corporation Ltd. (CIC) PNG National Agriculture Quarantine & Inspection Agency (NAQIA) Provincial Estate Crops Agency for South Sulawesi & Papua, Indonesia Directorate of Estate Crops Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia sponsor Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

contact CABI, PO Box 210, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia T: +60 (0)3 8943 2921 F: +60 (0)3 8942 6490 E: cabisea@cabi.org www.cabi.org/malaysia

ID-CBB-10-12

Soetikno S Sastroutomo, Project Manager