Coffee pest threat
The industry is being threatened by a new pest called the coffee borer, scientifically referred to as hypothenemus hampei.The pest, which destroys the coffee berries and makes them useless for export, was found 50km away from the PNG-Indonesian border.In a joint media statement released yesterday, Agriculture Minister Sasa Zibe and the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) chief executive officer Ricky Mitio said the pest was discovered in Wamena and Oksibil districts in the Papua province of Indonesia.”Oksibil is only 90km from Tabubil and 50km from the PNG-Indonesia border,” Messrs Zibe and Mitio said in the statement.They said coffee borer is serious coffee pest that is found in countries of Africa, South America, Central America and South East Asia, and New Caledonia.”Its presence in Wamena and Oksibil, very close to PNG, posed a very serious threat to the coffee industry in PNG.”They said the insect has the potential to infect and decimate coffee production by between 70% and 100% within 12 months, which could lead to an economical loss of more than K300 million.”Its entry will affect the entire Highlands region, and other parts of PNG dependent on coffee,” they added.Mr Mitio said although the insect is not yet confirmed in PNG, like the incursion of most exotic plant disease and pests such as the potato late blight in 2002 and the cocoa pod borer this year, it is only a matter of time, and through carelessness, before the pest enters PNG.The insect is a small black beetle about 1.5mm-3mm long . The female beetle bores into young as well as ripe coffee berries generally through the naval (tip) region. Around 50 eggs on an average are laid in the tunnel within the mature coffee bean. The grubs (larvae) feed on the bean making small tunnels
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. Complete development from egg to adult takes between 25 and 35 days. Mating normally takes place inside the berries and the female is capable of laying eggs three-to-four days after emergence. On average, the fertilized female lives up to 156 days and seeks out other fresh berries for oviposition.In one year, up to eight generations of coffee borer are produced, giving rise to massive build-up of progeny per coffee season. It can be found in unripe and fallen coffee berries. Mr Ziba said in PNG where coffee production occurs all year round, the spread and destruction will be rapid and recurring.”The civil society of PNG should take diligence checks in all travels by road, sea and air in and out of the country and also travelling between coffee growing provinces and, in particular, into Papua province in Indonesia,” he said.The Minister said CIC scientists, in collaboration with the National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority (Naqia), were formulating a national emergency response plan which will be submitted to the national disaster committee shortly.
Source: www.thenational.com
