Although this malignant insect is very small, only 1.5 mm long, it brings great harm. CBB (short for Coffee Borer Beetle) can infect almost 100% of coffee pods on a farm and lead to an average of 30-35% crop loss annually. Farmers’ incomes could be further harmed as the quality of the remaining fruit is also degraded during the harvest.
Damage mechanism of coffee berry borer
CBB affects coffee cherries when the female punches a hole through the pod to enter the bean. Once inside, it hits many smaller tunnels inside the seed and lays eggs along these tunnels. When the eggs hatch into larvae, they gnaw the roots and flesh of the fruit before leaving the fruit to mate and then continue the cycle with other coffee cherries.
There are three main ways that CBB produces can lead to coffee quality and annual yield problems. The coffee cherries can fall to the ground before reaching the required maturity and rot on the ground, reducing the yield.
Second, the holes in the coffee cherries caused by chisels can make the beans susceptible to fungal and bacterial growth that affects the grain – if it’s not removed during roasting.
Finally, holes drilled earlier in the fruit growth cycle can result in poor fruit development and cause loose, loose seeds of lower density, reducing the size and quality of the crop.
Effects
Since CBB first appeared in the 1910s, it has spread worldwide and remains a constant threat to coffee farmers around the globe. Annual damage from this tiny insect can reach $500 million. However, some farmers and farming communities have been successful in controlling CBB.
Hypothenemus hampei
Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari), the coffee berry borer, is the world’s most destructive insect pest of coffee. Adult females drill a hole in the coffee berry to lay their eggs; when the larvae hatch, they feed on the coffee seeds inside the fruit, lowering the quantity and quality of the marketable product.
Because the insect spends the majority of its time inside the coffee berry, it is difficult to control. This study provides a brief assessment of the research on the coffee berry borer’s natural enemies, the potential use of fungal endophytes as a biocontrol method, and factors that may be involved in drawing the bug to the coffee plant.
The study outlines key areas where more research should be done in order to improve the prospects of developing a successful pest management approach for the coffee berry borer.
Berry borer hypothenemus
With the exception of Nepal and Papua New Guinea, the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) (Ferrari) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) is a bark beetle unique to Central Africa that has now spread to all coffee-producing countries in the world.
The most commercially significant coffee pest in the world is CBB (Fig. 1). (Le Pelley 1968, Vega 2008). Scolytinae beetles are among the most destructive insects on the planet; their life cycle inside the host plant makes them tough to control (Rudinsky 1962).
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