Ugandans discover Pesticide for Black Coffee Twig Borer

By Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

 The biopesticide Black Off. PNS Photo

Uganda’s neglected yet crucial agricultural sector has reason to smile. Reticia Products has come up with a solution to the Black Coffee Twig Borer (BCTB) that has devastated miles of Coffee gardens leading to the aggravation of poverty, human rights abuses and distrust of government.

The bio pesticide, named Black- Off, is already in use by farmers in Rakai and Masaka districts where it was first experimented.  

“The major constraints hindering my coffee production is BCTB, thieves, drought and lack of labour,” says Joseph Rogers Kateregga a coffee farmer in Nabyajjwe II village, Nabyajjwe Parish, Lwankoni sub-county, Rakai district. He has about 5 acres of coffee.

Kateregga says that he applied Black Off between April and June 2014 at a rate of 50 milliliters in 15 liters of water after trimming off the infested plant materials.

“I observed a tremendous reduction in infestation after applying Black Off. It is hard to imagine how joyous and relieved I feel! We have been cutting our coffee trees and burning them in a bid to fight this weevil, but without success. How situations change!”

Miss Nakiwala’s farm is located in Mweruka village, Bugere parish, Kyesiiga sub-county, Masaka district. The farmer owns about 1 acre under coffee and the main constraints hindering coffee production are: BCTB management, lack of manure and chemicals to manage the twig borer.

“I control BCTB by spraying with Black Off at a rate of 20 mls in 15 liters of water every month. The infestation generally reduced when Black Off was used.”

“This is a major break through for coffee farmers. We have been spending a lot of money on spraying because the chemicals we have been using have side effects, especially on women. We have been hiring men to spray but we are going to do the spraying our selves,” the excited wife to the traditional leader of Kooki said at the launch of the biopesticide Black Off.

Farmers praised Reticia Products and the Entomology team for their efforts to assist farmers out of the dungeons of the Black Coffee Twig Borer, so that they maximize their profits.

 

The lethal Black Coffee Twig Borer

Black Off is a relatively new biopesticide manufactured and being promoted by Reticia Products for managing the twig borer. Reticia Products is owned by Ugandans: Mr. Andrew Ssewanyana and Mrs. Alexandra Miwanda Bagenda. It is based in Kyengera, Kampala-Masaka road.

This discovery was assisted by the Reticia Products’ experience in body lotions.

It was in March 2014, while in Kamugenyi, Masaka district working on electric wiring and passion fruit farming that Andrew Ssewanyana was struck by the devastation meted out by the Black Coffee Twig Borer to the coffee farmers.  Coffee growing areas that have tasted the wrath of the BCTB commonly refer to it as the Coffee Wilt Disease.

“In April, I imported my knowledge of the human skin cleanser, a herbal skincare product called Andy, that works well on human skins.

“In May Reticia started using the cleanser on the beetles as well. The team discovered that the herbal skin cleanser had the capacity to weaken the beetles but they could not die. The team continued experimenting by varying the various ingredients mixed with some chemicals until we got a solution that killed the beetles.

“The product by this time was named Our Coffee, but was later changed to Black Borer. We only felt satisfied when we got the name of Black Off and the product has since been known by this name.”

The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) maintains that Coffee remains the leading commercial agricultural commodity and major foreign exchange earner. It accounts for nearly 20% of all exports by value during past several years. Nearly 1.5 million, mostly rural households- that is about nine million people- depend on coffee- related activities for their livelihood.

 

An infested coffee tree

Dr. Godfrey H. Kagezi says that the BCTB – Xylosandrous compactus (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) is a relatively new pest in Uganda attacking coffee and a number of other plant species. It was first reported in Bundibugyo in 1993 but now spreading rapidly to other areas particularly in the Robusta Coffee growing Regions.

“Being a new pest, there are limited control strategies for the pest. Secondly, the pest spends most of its life cycle inside the host plant galleries, making control rather difficult.

“Farmers in Uganda and else where usually use cultural and sometimes combined with inorganic pesticides to control BCTB.”

Dr. Kagezi is an entomologist with the National Coffee Research Institute (NaCORI) and he headed the study to determine the efficacy of Black Off on the BCTB. 

The NaCORI Entomology team found that Black Off2 (Dilute) was able to kill 66.7% BCTB while Black Off1 (Concentrated) was able to kill 58.3% BCTB.

“Cultural methods are labour intensive and may be uneconomical whereas, inorganic pesticides are being discouraged because of their hazardous effects on humans, animals and the environment.

“Less expensive natural (organic) biopesticides could be an alternative to inorganic pesticides.

“These biopesticides are biodegradable and environment-friendly and less likely for insects to develop resistance against them. Black Off is an example of such biopesticides which has been developed.”

In Uganda alone, the BCTB is known to infect more than 50 plant species but worldwide it infects 200 crop species.

The female beetle bores into the berry-bearing primary branches causing them to wilt and die off within a few weeks.  This leads to loss of berries or coffee beans.

“An estimated annual yield loss of 8.6%, approximately US $ 41 million has been incurred in Uganda. And it is likely to increase within the coffee plantations and to new plantations and infestation (virgin) areas if the epidemic is not contained,” Dr. Kagezi warns.

The objectives of the study were to determine the efficacy of the pesticide against adult twig borer in laboratory- in vitro- conditions, and to assess farmers’ perception of the efficacy of Black Off against BCTB.

The biopesticide is made by mixing plant extracts: oranges, lemons and Aloe vera among others, with water and Sodium laureth sulfate and incubating the mixture at room temperature for 30 days.

Adult Black Coffee Twig Borers were extracted form the primary infested branches collected from on- site coffee plantations at the NaCORI, Kituuza, Mukono district.

“Both biopesticides were able to cause mortality to adult BCTB in vitro conditions with their efficacy comparable to the recommended synthetic pesticide (IMAX),” concluded the NaCORI team.

Other members on the NaCORI team were: Mr. Patrick Kucel, Mr. Joseph Sseruyange and Mr. John Ssemuwemba.

NaCORI entomologists recommended that Since BCTB spends most of its life cycle inside the host plant galleries; a systemic chemical needs to be used to kill it. Therefore, the mode of action, whether systemic or contact, and the delivery mechanisms need to be determined.

The effect of these biopesticides on the various life stages of the beetle: eggs, larvae and pupae, should also be investigated.

The team further recommended that the effect of the biopesticides on the coffee and other susceptible plants, phytotoxicity, should be determined. The biopesticides should also be tried on other insect pests of coffee particularly in areas where organic farming is being promoted e.g. on Arabica coffee in Mt. Elgon region and weaver ants in Northern Uganda.

The excitement is enormous on the part of Reticia Products, coffee farmers and the NaCORI Entomology team.

Ssewanyana says that packaging is a major challenge given the rate of adulteration of products in the country. Funding is not forth coming.

“We are on track to release our dream of a biopesticide for this destructive Coffee Wilt Disease. We also need a machine for squeezing lemon juice without harming our workers. Even the media is not picking up this major agricultural break through with the zeal similar to political stories.”   

For the coffee farmers, the discovery of Black Off is an opportunity they cannot allow slip through their hands. They are helping Reticia Products to identify fellow farmers in their localities with whom the biopesticide can be entrusted with. These will be the coffee farmers’ Black Off collecting points, and that way product adulteration is partly solved and farmers can look to improved coffee production, increased income and human rights respected. It is a key step toward poverty alleviation and sustainable development.