JBRP fights coffee disease, supplies coffee seedlings

Working with the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board (CIB), Fintrac’s JBRP has been assisting smallholder coffee farmers – with pest management and seedling supply – recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.

Surveys by the Jamaican Coffee Industry Board (CIB) indicated that the islandwide Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) infestation rate (berry damage) was approximately 12 percent before Ivan.

The hurricane blew infested berries from trees and led to the infestation of other trees. In an attempt to manage the growing infestation, the CIB Advisory Services Unit introduced a biological pest trap called the Brocap Trap. This trap, a key integrated pest management (IPM) practice for coffee production, utilizes pheromones to attract the borer to an opening where it becomes trapped in a non-chemical solution.

Combined with other production techniques, the Brocap Traps significantly reduce CBB populations. The trap is an effective control and significantly reduces the need for pesticides.

The distribution of Brocap Traps started in April because the pest usually emerges in the spring. The program also provided assembly, use and placement demonstrations.

In addition to the Brocap Traps, JBRP also supplied healthy coffee seedlings to hurricane-affected farmers. CIB training sessions helped farmers prepare land for the new seedlings and properly transfer the seedlings.

“The training was very informative… I attend all the (CIB) trainings and meetings,” says Howard Smart, a coffee farmer who hopes the assistance will help him recover his lost crop. “Although I have been increasing my acreage, I lost about two acres of coffee trees to Ivan, about 1,600 coffee trees.”

Smart was one of 41 coffee farmers to receive seedlings through the program.