Evaluation of Coffee Cultivars to Coffee Berry Borer (Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari)) Infestation in Southwestern Ethiopia

摘要

Background and Objectives: Coffee berry borer is one of the insect pests that causes damage on the coffee berry in Ethiopia. However, little information is available about the response of released coffee berry disease resistant cultivars to the target pest. Thus, this study was initiated to determine the current status of coffee berry borer infestation across coffee producing areas in southwestern part of Ethiopia and variation in susceptibility of coffee berry disease resistant cultivars to target insect pest. Materials and Methods: Coffee berry borer assessment were conducted for 2 years (2012/13 and 2013/14) across 37 sites in the major coffee growing areas of the country. Two hundred dried coffee berries were collected from randomly selected 30 coffee trees from each site and examined for their damage. The collected data were subjected to Analysis of variance using General Linear Model of SAS software. Results: Coffee berry borer was observed in all surveyed areas. The analysis of variance for the mean incidence of coffee berry borer showed a significant difference (p<0.05) among study areas. The highest incidence was recorded from Bebeka site; characterized by low land coffee producing agro-ecosystems. Similarly, significant difference was observed among coffee cultivars for coffee berry borer infestation at different sites in both years. At Bebeka, the highest incidence (85.76%) was recorded from cultivar 744 while the lowest (61.25%) was recorded from local varieties. Conclusion: The present research results suggest that there is high chance to exploit host plant resistance for the management of coffee berry borer in Ethiopia. Furthermore, economic and quality loss assessment should be conducted in the future in order to investigate the importance of this insect on coffee industry.