AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Coconut rhinoceros beetle impact in hawaii11/30/2023 The damage was at its worst in 2015 with nearly every tree in Peleliu showing beetle damage and has affected the whole of Palau including the Northern and Southern Atolls. The beetle is invasive and has the potential of wiping out palms if proper control measures are not initiated, except in isolated resort environments where that have reduced damage by nearly 90%.Previous damage assessments show a slight rise in damage, which was more severe after sequential typhoons in 20 that increased breeding sites for the beetle. It is resistant to the biocontrol virus and is literally killing palms as it advances its invasion. Throughout the region the presence of the CRB-Guam biotype has shown evidence of severe to catastrophic levels of damage (50 - 90 %) as compared to the CRB-Pacific biotype which, with virus biocontrol, only causes light to moderate damage (10 - 50%) in 'hot spots' with uncontrolled breeding sites.Palau has had moderate damage despite the presence of both biotypes and sever weather may result in a resurgence of the CRB because of increased breeding sites. This highly damaging new variant has invaded Guam, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Palau and the Solomon Islands within the last 10 years and killed 70 - 80 percentage of palms, as it continues to spread. The fact that Pacific Island countries and territories have a diversity of native and introduced palm species and coconut being the pre-eminent amongst them as fundamental for food security, construction material and as an icon for tourism in the Pacific has made even more important for the region to curtail the damage caused by CRB-G. Coconuts are highly valued by residents and tourists as an important economic botanical in Palau and the region.A dire call for an emergency response for a new variant of rhinoceros beetle (CRB-G) that has invaded the Pacific Islands since 2007 is more critical than ever before. Coconut palms are an important source of food and fiber, as well as part of many tropical islands' ecosystems, landscape and nursery industries, and iconic scenery. The damage can significantly reduce coconut production, and tree mortality can occur when CRB destroys the growing tip. CRB adults damage palms, particularly younger ones, by boring into the center of the crown, where they injure the young, growing tissues and feed on the sap. "It's a great crop for tropical countries, especially developing tropical countries and we employ a lot of people here … we support a lot of local people who have their own oil palm, and we have plans for expansion because it is a good growing region great yields, but first we have to get on top of this beetle," he said.Non Technical Summary Problem statement/situation statement/non-technical summar圜oconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) is a large scarab beetle native to Southeast Asia and a damaging pest of palm species, most notably coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). Mr Gibsone has explained that the stakes are much higher than the future of his company. "If we can get the right disease … the right parasite, predator, population suppressing organism, whatever you want to call it … into the country and we get the population down and people do change their behaviour in that they're cleaning up the breeding sites, then yes, we can get back to something like what it was before, but there are a lot of ifs and buts along the way." "There's no certainty yet but we believe it comes from the Philippines or Indonesia or Vietnam and we have to do a DNA match and then try and identify what is keeping it under control in those countries and then import that."Ĭan Solomon Islands live with the rhinoceros beetle or will it be forever changed? " a big question," Mr Macfarlane said.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |