CIC releases remedy for coffee berry borer

THE Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) has announced a field release of a bio- control agent last week, after conducting extensive laboratory and field tests since last year.
CIC chief executive officer Charles Dambui said it had taken a while to come up with the bio-control agent and scientists have been working tirelessly to identify a local biological control agents of the coffee berry borer (CBB).
A local strain of Beauveria fungus was identified in September last year infecting CBB in the Asaro valley in Eastern Highlands.
“We are culturing and mass propagating Beauvaria bassiana, a local bio-control agent,” he said.
“This is positive news.
“This local fungus is acclimatised and can be able to adapt to our surroundings.”
The CIC will not encourage importation of any biological control agents without field trials, Dambui said.
The first application of Beauvaria bassiana in Jiwaka last year gave positive results, and is spreading to cover infected and non-infected coffee plots as well.
The local strain of fungus was identified in mid-2017 at the Roka plantation in the Asaro valley of Eastern Highlands, and was then isolated and cultured in the CIC laboratory in Aiyura.
Initial results show that Beauveria bassiana had the potential to significantly reduce CBB infestation level, disturb CBB life cycles and reduce CBB population.
Other ongoing efforts in terms of internal quarantine, sanitation practises, recycling, pruning, spraying of chemicals and cherry stripping will continue with regular field and lab tests evaluation on the fungus.
He said lab trials indicated that the local strain of Beauveria bassiana can also infect and cause mortality on sweet potato weevil and Oribius weevil and other pests of food crops.