Recent research indicates that a small predatory insect may be the solution to US$500 million annual losses in coffee trade due to the coffee berry borer pest.
The coffee berry borer pest is the most important pest of coffee throughout the world. It is responsible for huge financial losses every year and until now chemical pesticides, including endosulfan, have proved to be ineffective at controlling it.
Research published last week in the journal Naturwissenschaften - The Science of Nature indicates that a small insect, Karnyothrips flavipes, found in Kenya is a natural predator of the coffee berry borer, and therefore could be used as an environmentally-friendly pest-control measure for coffee production. This laboratory research supports the growing body of anecdotal evidence that organic measures can be effectively used to control crop pests, suggesting that harmful agro-chemicals like endosulfan are out-of-date and unnecessary. It is a timely discovery as more and more pests are becoming resistant to chemical pesticides. The latest EJF report, End of the Road for Endosulfan, revealed that resistance to endosulfan has developed in at least 28 species affecting at least 22 crops. Endosulfan is a particularly harmful pesticide repeatedly shown to cause severe and debilitating health conditions in humans, with a devastating legacy on the natural environment. In response to the risks associated with its use, sixty-two countries have put in place national bans. These countries include Mali, Cambodia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the countries of the EU. The global manufacture and trade of endosulfan is currently under review under the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions, with progress being made towards a worldwide ban. However, vested interests are currently standing in the way, with a small handful of parties putting profit before people and planet. “I was born in the heart of the coffee growing area of Colombia...and I know by heart the problems of endosulfan in the coffee area. The use of this insecticide in our coffee plantations in Colombia has claimed many lives, contaminated our environment, which is particularly serious in a mega-diverse country like Colombia, and has resulted in endosulfan resistance of the coffee berry borer...there is no other way of controlling it but knowing the biology and ecology of the pest and using natural/biological control strategies.” Read EJF’s report, End of the Road for Endosulfan |
Organic better than deadly endosulfan |
