Fungus i givim niufala hop- Coconut Beetle

Ol researcher oli gat hae hop long niufala fungus tritmen bae hem i stopem spred blong Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle.

Biosecurity ofisa hemi anaonsem tu plan blong pem laef beetle long ol man blong faetem pest ia.

Beetle ia hemi stap damejem fulap valuable crop long kaontri, mbe biosecurity ofis hemi gat wan nara wei blong faetem problem.

Eli result blong trial blong Metarhizium fungus hemi showem hem i save stopem beetle blong spred.

Biosecurity Vanuatu Ofisa, Sylvie Boulekouran i se fungus we hem i stap gro hem wan long environmen hem i kilim beetle taem hem i bebe mo smol beetle bifo ol i kam blong damejem kokonat.

“Sins mifala i stat putum Metarhizium las yia hem i showem wan gudfala risal, afta we mifala ko kolektem ol data blong mifala we ol grubs, ol breeding site we mifala i plasem,” hem i talem.

“Hem i showem se i gat almost ova 50-60 per cent oli infekted blong fungus.”

Hem talem se trial i yusum method we i stopem life cycle blong beetle, long egg kasem larvae.

“Tru long projek ia, yumi helpem hem, so yumi priperem ol breeding site mo yumi putum long ol infekted eria, blong alaoem hem i kam, hem i layem egg mo long semak taem yumi aplae Metarhizium, we hem i wan biocontrol we yumi aplaem so hemi save katem daon long environmen.”

Fungus ia hem i efectiv long tugeta type blong beetle we i stap long Efate naoia, both Guam mo Pacific type blong species.

Biosecurity ofis hemi setem trap finis long faef sites long aelan blong Efate we hem i long Ifira, Bukura, Tamate, Mele antap long hill mo Mele golf.

Niufala stej blong faet agensem pest

Long 2019 taem Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle hem i kam wan bigfala threat long coconut industry long kaontri.

Hem i bin stat long south Efate mo spred i ko raon long ful Efate mo olgeta offshore aelan.

Mbe folem plante efot long ol biosecurity ofisa ol i limitim spread i stap nomo long aelan blong Efate.

Naia ol i wantem blong kilim olgeta Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle we ol i stap long aelan.

Ms Boulekouran i talem se ol komuniti i mas no damejem trap blong beetle, from oli save helpem stopem ol beetle blong spred.

“Biosecurity i wantem informem yumi long pablik se ol trap we mifala i putum, mifala wantem se yumi tekem gud kea long hem, long ol komuniti we mifala plasem ol breeding site olsem wan PVC pipe o artificial breeding site, hem i jas ol box wetem graon antap lo hem, mifala wantem se ol man oli no destroyem, ol i no damejem, from hem i stap olsem wan monitoring system blong yumi.”

VBTC Nius hemi bin toktok wetem sam fama long Not Efate mo ol i se hop blong olgeta i stap long biosecurity blong kam long solution hariap bifo bambae beetle hem i damejem evri kokonat long Efate.

Dr Mark Ero, wan lead researcher long Pacific komuniti we ol i stap trailem Metarhizium traps, hemi fungus tritmen hem i nid blong efektiv evritaem blong i save gat efek.

“If you want the fungus program to be effective, you need to have some breeding sites where you build that and then you spray within the breeding sites in order to infect beetles in order to suppress the population,” hem i talem.

Pem blong kolektem beetle

Biosecurity hem i traem ol narafala effort tu we i lukim naia bambae ofis ia hem i pem life Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle long ol pipol long Efate.

Ms Boulekouran i se hem i wan nara initiative blong kontrolem beetle. Moa infomesen olsem amaon blong pem mo ples we Biosecurity bae i risivim beetle bae i kam long manis ia.

Hemi talem se Biosecurity i wantem laef beetle nomo, no beetle we ol i ded. Mo tu, olgeta ol i seh pipol mas no kolektem grub from ol i poison.

“Yumi save putum wan spotlaet, hem i atraktem beetle all naet, yu save kolektem fulap olsem we yu wantem klosap haos blong yu, klosap long coconut tree, bae plante i kam,” Ms Boulekouran i talem.