Borer beetles causing problems for Taiwan

Taiwanese reports suggest that an insect invasion is threatening to cause havoc on the local coffee growing industry once again as nearly ninety-percent of all plantations in the Gukeng Township of Yukin County have been affected by an influx of the coffee berry borer beetle (Hypothenemus hampei).

The area is well known for its coffee production with sixty hectares already under cultivation.

Destroying between twenty and fifty percent of the crop, the borer beetle has the potential to cause considerable damage. Now, the farmers and industry fear the worst and have begun to take preventative steps to secure crops.

A relatively new phenomenon in the Asian country, the insects have most likely hopped continents from their traditional African home due to people importing and then inadvertently planting raw coffee beans that contain the beetle’s larvae. The species has since bloomed in their new home, mainly due to Taiwan’s insect friendly climate.

Generally found in low-altitude areas the beetles are spreading. Sun Wang-tien, a local agricultural specialist, commented to local press that ‘It is very serious for coffee farms at [low] elevation and [it] is spreading towards the south. It is becoming a big concern’.

Even those far above sea-level are at risk as the Shihpi plantation, Yunlin’s highest-altitute coffee farm, has not been declared safe ground. In addition to Gukeng, other predominant coffee growing areas in the state are locations in Nantou Country, Greater Tainan and other central and southern areas.

Speaking on the issue to the local Taiwanese press, Liu Yi-teng of the Gukeng Farmers’ Association’s said that ‘the insect bores into the coffee berry and eats [it] from the inside…The farmer [will] only know the extent of the blight when the coffee berries’ skins are removed.’

Farmers have been advised to pick all the infested berries and follow set guidelines in order to help eradicate the pests. Traps have also been distributed to afflicted farmers.

The local organisations hope to nip this outbreak in the bud as if the problem is not rectified quickly and efficiently, there is a chance that the beans will lose all commercial value and the Taiwanese coffee industry will take a large hit.