Coffee Berry Borer Infestation and Population per Fruit Relationship with Coffee Variety, Shade Level, and Altitude on Specialty Coffee Farms in Peru

Abstract

Although the coffee berry borer (CBB) is the most important coffee pest worldwide, controversies remain regarding basic aspects of its behavior, such as how this is influenced by abiotic factors of the coffee agroecosystem. In this study, we compared the level of infestation and total population per fruit under three different levels of shade (full sun, up to 40%, and >40%), for two varieties of coffee (Caturra and Catimor) and at two different altitudes (1200 to 1700 m above sea level) in Rodríguez de Mendoza, Peru. We found that the infestation percentage increases with the shade levels of the plot. The average percentages of infestation according to shade levels were 10.52% for coffee in full sun, 12.56% with up to 40% shade, and 17.99% for coffee growing in more than 40% shade; however, maximum infestation values of 68.421%, 84.127%, and 95.238% were obtained for coffee plantations in full sun, up to 40% shade, and more than 40% shade, respectively. The Catimor variety was found to be more susceptible to CBB infestation than Caturra. In addition, CBB infestation per fruit was found to decrease with increasing altitude.

A model of coffee berry borer population growth and susceptibility to control by birds

“…Aside from predators, pest species are also impacted by the agricultural environment directly (e.g., monoculture provides ample host plants but a polyculture would reduce the density of hosts, decreasing the degree to which infestations can grow). In fact, on coffee farms where bird densities are higher in shade, CBB infestations are also higher (Mariño et al, 2016;Oliva et al, 2023), possibly because CBB native range is in humid, shade forests of Africa (Vega et al, 2015). It is important that future modeling include such habitat-specific factors to understand Our research helps quantify the densities under which birds have the potential to control CBB populations.…”

Postharvest effects on the physical quality and sensory characteristics of Coffea canephora

“…Various factors can influence the extent of CBB damage. For instance, reduced shade tree diversity in C. canephora leads to higher CBB infestation rates, as it decreases natural predator diversity (Ayalew et al, 2022;Oliva et al, 2023). Conversely, the presence of shade trees increases bird populations, resulting in a 50% reduction in CBB infestation rates in C. arabica and an improvement in coffee quality (Chain-Guadarrama et al, 2019).…”