There are 225 hectares of coffee plantations in Pingtung County — the most of any county in Taiwan. It is now coffee harvest season in the county. However, while harvesting this year’s crop, Pingtung County’s coffee farmers discovered an infestation of the coffee borer beetle, which has already ravaged coffee crops in central and northern Taiwan. The pest has significantly depleted this year’s coffee harvest — by 30 percent, according to data published by Pingtung County Government Department of Agriculture. The department has called in experts to help investigate and assist farmers with preventative measures to suppress the beetle’s spread.
Pingtung’s coffee farms are mostly located along the Dawu mountain range, but in recent years farmers have begun to grow coffee in flatland areas. According to local coffee farmers, this is the first time that their coffee plantations have suffered from blight, so they lack knowledge in how to deal with it. As the amount of land set aside for growing coffee in Pingtung has increased, farmers say cultivation management and blight problems have come to the fore.
The coffee borer beetle is tiny and burrows into the coffee fruit to extract food and lay eggs. The beetles also reproduce rapidly: a single beetle typically lays between 30 to 60 eggs inside the fruit. Damaged fruit withers and dries out, while bacteria within the cavity left by the beetle may produce fungus growth, leading to a higher “bean float rate” when wet processing the beans after harvest.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報邱芷柔
Removing “floating beans” is the first step during processing coffee beans. Farmers place the freshly harvested beans into large containers of water. Ripe beans are heavier, so they will sink to the bottom, while lighter unripe or inferior beans float on the surface.
Pingtung County Government Department of Agriculture says it is using traps to prevent the beetle from spreading further, and officials stress that the best time to carry out prevention measures is when the coffee plants are flowering. The department says that, in addition to working with experts from the local agricultural research and extension station, it is also providing coffee farmers with education on steps they can take to inhibit the coffee borer beetle’s spread.(Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
屏東縣咖啡種植面積達兩百二十五公頃，居全國之冠。正值咖啡採收季節，屏東咖啡農卻發現，原本肆虐中、北部咖啡產區的「咖啡果小蠹」大舉入侵屏東，造成產量大減。屏東縣政府農業處統計，今年整體產量約減少百分之三十，將邀專家會勘，協助農民進行防治作業，避免疫情蔓延。
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報邱芷柔
屏東咖啡農戶指出，大武山沿線都有咖啡園，近年許多平地也加入種植行列，過去沒有病蟲害問題，因此農友相關防治知識不足。隨著種植面積及不斷增加，栽培管理及病蟲害問題也浮出檯面。
咖啡果小蠹蟲體細小，會鑽入果實取食、產卵，且繁殖速度快，一隻雌蟲在一粒果實內就可產下三十至六十粒卵，受到危害的咖啡果實會整顆枯乾，果實遭蛀洞後，增加細菌、真菌入侵機會，讓「浮豆率」跟著提高。
「去除浮豆」是咖啡製程的第一個步驟，農民將採收的咖啡果倒入大水槽，成熟飽滿的果實會沉入水底，發育不完全的劣質豆會浮上水面。
縣府農業處表示，目前多以「咖啡果小蠹誘殺器」進行防治，每年咖啡開花期是防治咖啡果小蠹最好的時機，縣府將會同農改場等專家共同勘察，並透過講習，協助降低害蟲數量減緩蔓延速度。
（自由時報邱芷柔）
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