Trapping coffee beetles with natural baits |
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Development of pheromones for management of coffee stemborer |
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Natural chemical extracts - pheromones - that attract female coffee stemborers are now being commercially manufactured in India. This new bait, together with specially designed traps, means that females can be caught and destroyed. The coffee white stemborer is a beetle that seriously damages coffee crops in India, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam and Thailand. In India, coffee growing, as well as providing a living for over half-a-million workers and their families in remote rural areas, checks soil erosion on hillsides. Farmers in all the main coffee-growing areas of India, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, now use over 40,000 pheromone traps. Since the only pesticide effective on stemborer has been withdrawn from use in India, there is major potential for these traps to help control this major pest of coffee. Project Ref: CPP77:
Research Programmes: Crop Protection Programme (1996-1998) Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) / International Coffee Organisation (ICO) (CFC/ICO 18; 2003-2006) Relevant Research Projects:
Research Outputs, Problems and Solutions: In India, coffee cultivation provides livelihoods for more than 140,000 growers and 500,000 workers and their families (Database on Coffee, Economic and Market Intelligence Unit, coffee Board of India, September 2006). Ninetyeight percent of the growers own less than 10 ha and produce 60% of total production. In addition to its socioeconomic importance in remote, rural areas, coffee growing makes a major contribution to maintaining an ecological balance in poor hillsides, the coffee and shade trees preventing erosion and preserving biodiversity. Coffee white stemborer (CWSB), Xylotrechus quadripes Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is the most serious insect pest of arabica coffee in India, as well as Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Thailand. Loss of production due to X. quadripes on arabica is a capital loss caused by the need to uproot and replace infested plants, and it is estimated that the national loss due to this pest is 130m rupees per year (£2m). There are no effective control measures against this pest following the withdrawal of BHC for agricultural use in India. The male CWSB beetle was previously shown to produce a pheromone that attracted female beetles for mating. In the two projects funded by DFID, the pheromone was isolated, identified and synthesised and shown to attract female beetles in laboratory bioassays. Slow release dispensers for the synthetic pheromone were developed and an effective design of trap established during field trials in India. In the subsequent CFC/ICO project, the lure and traps have been developed further, commercial manufacture established in India, and evaluation by growers is in progress.
The outputs are focussed on coffee. The principle of use of pheromones in management of insect pests is applied to pests on many commodities, but the specific output described here is applicable only to this species which, although it may use other host plants, is only a pest on Arabica coffee.
The projects "ICPM for smallholder coffee in Malawi" (R8423, R8203) and "Coffee in East Africa" (R8513) address constraints due to pests and diseases on coffee in Africa. Related coffee stemborers are also a major problem in Africa, but these are different species to that in India, and work carried out in the CFC/ICO project has shown that the pheromone technology is probably not applicable there. However, other approaches to management of coffee stemborers developed during the CFC/ICO project might be applicable in Africa and vice versa. The project "Support to SME supplying pheromone control technologies and promoting policy change for commercial production" (R8413, 8304, 7465D) deals with issues related to commercialisation of pheromone-based technologies in S E Asia. Commercialisation of the traps for coffee stemborer in India provides an example for this, and lessons learnt during the "support for SME" projects could prove useful for further development of the traps in India and other countries of SE Asia. How the outputs were validated: Structure of the pheromone and its biological activity in laboratory and field was established by NRI and the CCRI and published (Hall et al., 1998, 2006). The effectiveness of the pheromone traps for monitoring CWSB emergence was validated by CCRI. Pheromone traps were deployed throughout the coffee growing regions of India during 2003-2006. Season-long monitoring of trap catches demonstrated the emergence pattern and the magnitude of the catch was correlated with the extent of infestation. The impact of the traps in reducing populations of CWSB was determined by CCRI by trapping areas of from 4-7 ha of coffee with traps at 25 traps per ha. Borer emergence was estimated by counting new emergence holes on all stems in the area. In six studies, the proportion of available beetles trapped was 16-61%. Grower evaluation was carried out during the October-December flights in 2005 and 2006 and the April-May flight in 2006. Reductions in infestation as measured by the number of infested stems removed are being monitored in selected areas. Hall, D.R., Cork, A., Phythian, S., Sumathi, Ch., Jayarama, Venkatesha, M.G., Violet D'Souza, M. & Naidu, R. (1998) Studies on the male sex pheromone of the coffee white stemborer, Xylotrechus quadripes Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Semiochemicals, Wageningen. Hall, D.R., Cork, A., Phythian, S.J., Chittamuru, S,. Jayarama, Venkatesha, M.G., Sreedharan, K., Seetharama, H.G., Vinod Kumar, P.K. and Naidu, R. (2006). Identification of components of male-produced pheromone of coffee white stemborer, Xylotrechus quadripes Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 32(1): 213-237. Where the Outputs were Validated: Validation is being carried out in the main coffee growing areas of India - Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Growers at all levels from small-scale to estate are involved. Production system is Hillsides and farming system rainfed highlands. Who are the Users? Pheromone traps are being used by a range of coffee growers from small-scale to large estate as part of a package recommended by the Coffee Board to control CWSB. This currently includes two rounds of "tracing" (removal of infested stems), two applications of insecticide and use of pheromone traps. If the pheromone trapping proves successful it is planned to eliminate the insecticide applications and the number of infested stems required to be removed will decrease. Where the Outputs have been Used: Pheromone traps are being used in all the main coffee growing areas of India - Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Scale of current use: In October-December 2005, 10,000 traps were deployed in the first large-scale evaluation. In 2006 this number has increased to 40,000.Policy and Institutional Structures, and Key Components for Success: The research was carried out in close collaboration with the Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI) of the Coffee Board of India, which provides effective research and extension in all the coffee growing areas of India. Outputs generated by the UK researchers were taken up, developed and promoted by the CCRI. Commercial uptake of the traps and lures has been possible in India because of the existence of several companies that now provide pheromone technologies. These have established because of the highly skilled labour force and also government policy promoting "biorational" approaches to pest control which have provided a reliable market for their products. Furthermore, farmers and growers in India have become increasingly aware of the problems with overuse and misuse of chemical pesticides as a result of government policy and also media reporting of events such as crop failures and suicides due to drinking of pesticides. For a cash crop that is largely exported, such as coffee, elimination of pesticide residues is a major economic issue. The CFC/ICO project also provided a stimulus to further development and promotion of the trapping technology and funding for involvement of UK experts to assist in this. Direct and Indirect Environmental Benefits: Direct environmental benefits of adoption of the technology will be reduction in use of conventional pesticides. Indirect benefits will be promotion of coffee growing in poor hillside regions which makes a major contribution to maintaining an ecological balance, the coffee and shade trees preventing erosion and preserving biodiversity. Adverse Environmental Impacts: At present, the traps are constructed from plastic sheet and disposal of these by burying or burning presents an environmental hazard. Current work is aimed at developing re-usable and/or biodegradable traps. Coping with the Effects of Climate Change, or Risk from Natural Disasters: As a perennial crop, coffee can act as a form of investment. However, cash returns are typically concentrated in a small part of the year which is why at smallholder level coffee is grown along with other crops which provide a more regular income. Relevant Research Projects,
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