Coffee growers are made aware of importance of Integrated Pest Management

• “Technically, CBB is a cryptic pest, i.e., hidden in the coffee bean. Only a fraction of it flies, roughly 20%. When we talk about full presence of CBB in a coffee plantation, we refer to eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults; 80% of all biological states of the insect are hidden in the fruits and invisible to the naked eye,” Duque noted.

• If no integrated control measures are adopted, up to 4,5 million insects per hectare can fly in a hot dry period like El Niño. This figure drops to between 2,5 and 3,5 million insects per hectare in a neutral period, and to 1,7 million per hectare in La Niña event.

Bogotá, May 30, 2016 (FNC Press Office) – Colombian coffee growers are increasingly understanding the importance of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) as the most effective strategy to prevent the insect’s spread.

This was clear during the latest Technical Subcommittee of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), where 19 representatives from Colombia’s coffee departments met to discuss potential measures to reduce impacts of CBB infestation on coffee quality and income.

Developments by the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafé, the FNC’s scientific arm) on CBB were shown at the two-day meeting.

The importance of adopting control measures such as the commonly known repase “re-re” (colleting dry, ripe and overripe beans from trees and from the ground) and use of natural enemies of the insect was also stressed. 

“This task is coffee growers’ responsibility. It’s a problem that concerns all of us. We must devote daily efforts to control the insect, which is manageable if we carry out the repase, use fungi, and renovate our plantations,” noted Jaime E. Vargas, a coffee grower from the department of Antioquia who participated in the Subcommittee. 

According to Ricardo Gutiérrez, a coffee grower from Quindío, “Coffee growers must be disciplined to face CBB spread. We must follow recommendations made by the FNC’s extensionists and adopt the necessary measures at the right time. This is the only way to control the problem. We must work on this individually, receive their advice, and implement it on a timely basis.”

Nature of the problem

Hernando Duque, the FNC Chief Technical Officer, explained that several factors place CBB in the ‘difficult control pest’ category.

“Technically, CBB is a cryptic pest, i.e., hidden in the coffee bean. Only a fraction of it flies, roughly 20%. When we talk about full presence of CBB in a coffee plantation, we refer to eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults; 80% of all biological states of the insect are hidden in the fruits and invisible to the naked eye,” Duque noted.

Complexities of CBB’s ability to hide in the bean only add to the fact that the plague has evolved and now has elaborate protection mechanisms. Given the nature of the problem, the strategy recommended by Cenicafé and the FNC is Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a set of practices that contribute to the pest’s integrated management and control.

Aware of the difficulty of attacking the insect by implementing isolated practices, IPM advocates for a comprehensive strategy that includes different combinations of cultural, chemical, biological and post-harvest control, infestation level evaluation, and flowering record keeping.

El Niño increases CBB incidence

CBB infestations rose above normal levels in early 2016, with particularly negative impact on main harvest of Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío and Tolima.

This increase, which in some cases exceeded a 10% infestation (producers’ income starts to suffer when infestation exceeds 2%), was the result of El Niño event. Rising temperatures favor CBB reproduction and, when rains arrive, the insect flies and affects new fruits.

According to Cenicafé‘s field observations, if no integrated control measures are adopted, up to 4,5 million insects per hectare can fly in a hot dry period like El Niño. This figure drops to between 2,5 and 3,5 million insects per hectare in a neutral period, and to 1,7 million per hectare in La Niña event.