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The inside of a coffee berry that has been bored into by the Coffee Berry Borer.   An example of a CBB pheromone trap (sometimes utilising a coffee and alcohol mixture).
demonstrating use of a special board to determine broca infestation rate of cherries

The CBB took hold in Haïti for the first time in 2000 and ravaged crops, with up to 50% of crops spoiled as a result. Almost half of all RECOCARNO farms were affected.

RECOCARNO was at the forefront of the lobbying and media campaign to raise Broca awareness wareness and, together with other Fairtrade groups, successfully prevented application of a chemical pesticide as a quick solution; instead it opted to use natural methods to contain and eliminate the problem.

Additional possibilities are being explored: RECOCARNO is investigating use of "champignon Beauvaria" to control broca.

Remedies which are already containing the problem include:
- organic insecticide, including the use of tobacco leaves
- broca pheromone traps

 

The Coffee Berry Borer insect [Hypothenemus hampei] is one of the few insect pests of coffee. Called “la broca” in Spanish, this African-origin scolytid beetle, 2mm long, is now the most important insect pest of coffee throughout the tropics.

Damage is caused by the female which bores into green coffee berries to feed and lay her eggs, producing legless white larvae that feed on the beans for up to 3 weeks. This damages the quality of the coffee bean, which then cannot be exported even though the aroma and taste are largely unaffected. The sorting process eliminates coffee cherries that have been affected in this way.

The whole community is involved in the fight against the coffee blight caused by CBB: identifying blighted berries, pruning these and ensuring total destruction through means such as boiling. The blight is serious enough to warrant employment of a technician or 'blight agent' to coordinate the efforts to control the broca, which has reduced crop yields.