Pests of coffee and their control
pest | nature of damage | control measures |
shoot and root mealy bugs | yellowing, wilting and defoliation leading to stunting. sooty mould; the feeder roots die. Ants help to distribute the pest. Berry drop. Active from feb to june. | control ants by dusting ekalux 1.5% or malathion 5% around the bushes and shade trees. destroy ant nests. |
green bug | curled or distorted young leaves covered with a black fungus. Dropping of tender berries. | control ants by dusting ekalux 1.5% or malathion 5% around the bushes and shade trees. destroy ant nests. spray for the shoots and drench for the roots of grown up plants with any one of the foll:ekalux 25EC |
brown bug | same as for green bug | same as for shoot mealy bug |
hairy caterpillar | appear generally on shade trees and later come down to coffee. occur in congregations. | collect and kill caterpillars wherever possible. |
cockchafers | cut and eat feeder roots from may to oct-nov | drench soil around the base of the plants with lindane 20 EC at 750 ml in 200 lit of water. |
shothole borer | a serious pest of robusta. attack on tertiary twigs, young primaries and suckers. starts by mid-june and increases by september. The adult female bores a hole the size of a pinhead on the lower side of a twig in the internodial region. The tunnel which extends 38mm to both sides of the hole is lined with the ambrosia fungus on which the larvae feed. | prune and burn the affected twig, desucker during summer, maintain thin shade, good drainage, spray the crown foliage with 650 ml of lindane20EC in 200 litres of water. |
white stem borer | grubs feed on the wood of the stem and thick primaries and tunnel in all directions, sometimes right down to the taproot. Tunnels are packed with chalk-like excreta. | trace, stump or uproot and burn borer-infested plants during march-april and sept-oct., apply lindane 20EC at 1300ml along with 100ml of sandivit or vettoplant in 200 litres of water by swabbing the main stem and thick primaries during apr-may or sept-dec. |
red borer (Zeuzera coffea) | the adult moth emerges in apr-may. Larvae damage the stem of young plants and thick primaries during sept-nov. affected branches show wilting and reveal one or more holes through which excrement of larvae hangs out in the form of pellets. | destroy caterpillars, burn infested branches, generally below pest level. |
Thrips | Females have saw-like ovipositor. Eggs are laid inside the leaf tissue. Larvae and adults grasp and scrape the the epidermis and suck the sap, resulting in local scars, and distortion of young leaves. | maintaim good shade, spray as for green bug(except lannate) only in exposed fields till such time that shade trees cover up. |
snail(Ariophanta solata) | from june-oct on dadap and coffee. feeds on bark and leaves causing damage to foliage. | hand-picking and clean weeding. Broadcast snailkil (metaldehyde product) at 37.5 kg /ha. |
nematode | general stunting and yellowing of basal leaves, decaying of roots leading to die-back, tap root may be destroyed, tufts of adventitious roots,appear from near the collar region. | fumigate the soil with DD/EDB at the rate of 4ml /sq ft., rab the soil by heating it, use robusta-arabica grafted seedlings, exclude nematode-infested plants, jungle soil and farmyard manure. |
The recommendations in this account are for high-volume spraying. The quantity of an insecticide required should be adjusted for low-volume spraying.N.B. use rubber handgloves and take suitable protective measures while spraying. Wash hands thoroughly with soap after handling the chemicals.
