Identification of the pest

• Adult - small black beetle with a sub cylindrical body covered with thick hairs.
• Males are smaller.

Management

• Proper adoption of cultural practices and phytosanitary measures important for management of coffee berry borer.
• Transportation of infested coffee to uninfected areas is the main reason for spread.
• Crop bags should be fumigated before delivery to estates to avoid cross infestation.
• Timely harvest
• Gleaning - spreading gunny bags or polythene sheets on the ground after picking the berries - minimize gleaning.
• Maintain optimum shade and good drainage.
• Dipping infested berries in boiling water for 2-3 minutes kills all the stages inside.
• Drying of coffee beans – prevents breeding of beetles in stored coffee based on moisture content level.
  • Arabica (10% moisture content) - 16kg/lit
  • Roubsta (11% moisture content) - 18kg/lit
• Instal attractant trap to collect and kill the beetles
• Instal multiple funnel trap and pitfall trap to collect and kill the adults
• Chlorpyriphos is also effective in controlling the beetle.
• Field release of Cephalonomia stephendarix and phymastichus coffea for effective control these pests.
• Applications of white muscardine fungus, Beauveria bassiana effectively reduce the borer attack
• (Note: Spraying on ripe berries may not be useful. The time of application could be about 120-150 days after flowering (August – September for Arabica and September – October for Robusta).

Field application of Beauveria bassiana

• Mix 500 ml of groundnut oil with 500 ml of any agricultural wetting agent thoroughly.
• Add this suspension to 20 l of water and three bags of Beauveria culture the above solution mix well and strain through a muslin cloth.
• Application of spore suspension on the infested coffee bushes using a bakpak sprayer, targeting the berries.
• After 5 days application spores germinate and kill the insect.