Five provinces free of CBB pest: CIC

Five provinces in the Highlands Region remain free of the Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) pest, according to the recent delimiting survey carried out in the region.

Eastern Highlands, however, has confirmed the presence of the CBB pest in Asari and Kamaliki, as initially discovered two months ago.

In a media statement, Coffee Industry Corporation Chief Executive Officer, Charles Dambui, said the delimiting surveys will continue as part of its surveillance exercise.

“We are now into the containment stage and this will basically involve looking at short term measures to address the problem.”

Dambui said the containment exercise was expected to begin this week in Goroka and will be replicated in other Highlands provinces in the weeks to follow.

Current containment exercises will include setting up of roadblocks, activating the cherry ban policy, applying pesticide in infected areas and getting farmers to go back to the basics of field sanitation.

“If we are unable to contain the pest, then the roadblocks will be put off, and CIC together with the industry stakeholders will put more effort in empowering growers to live with the pest.”

General Manager for Research and Growers Services Division, Dr Mark Kenny, said CIC had already scaled down on other operations and committing resources to address the CBB incursion.

Police personnel in Banz and Kerowagi, including communities near the roadblock sites, have shown enormous support towards CIC to carry out its activities on the ground.

“We have deployed our team of coffee inspectors into Simbu where a roadblock is currently being staged at the Koronigl Bridge and another team is expected to set up a roadblock this week at the Lufa/Okapa junction in Eastern Highlands. The third checkpoint is being planned for Kondapina in Jiwaka province,” Dr Kenny said.

The CIC fears that if the CBB pest is not contained, production and containment costs will see an upsurge, putting more pressure on farmers and those involved in the industry to dig deep into their pockets.

The CIC is already embarking on immediate control measures to address the issue.

Meanwhile the CIC and joint partners in the exercise, the National Quarantine Inspection Authority (NAQIA), and the Department of Agriculture and Livestock  (DAL) are banking on a Government funding to support the exercise.

Dr Kenny told Loop PNG last week that the CIC is currently using its own internal funds to finance the operations.

(Coffee Berry Borer damage – Picture: Ambrosia Symbiosis)

Author: 
Cedric Patjole