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Coffee Pest Spreading to Other Crops in East Africa
By Esther Nakkazi, 12 March 2013
Kampala ? East Africa's horticulture could face a severe crisis due to 'species jump' - whereby a disease moves from a known host to new and unusual ones - affecting fruits, vegetables, and medicinal and ornamental plants.
Researchers in Uganda have discovered that the Black Coffee Twig Borer, a devastating coffee pest, has crossed over from Robusta coffee to about 40 plant species including avocadoes, cocoa, eggplant, ginger, guavas, jackfruit, mangoes and tomatoes.
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"It has been reported in many countries in Africa, including Kenya and northern Tanzania, which are already highly infested," says Godfrey Kagezi, a researcher and entomologist at the Coffee Research Centre (COREC), based at the National Agricultural Research Organisation.
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The pest, native to Asia, has slowly spread to the rest of the world. When the small black beetle attacks coffee, it destroys 90 per cent of the plant, as it does with both fruit and vegetables.
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Full text:
By Esther Nakkazi, 12 March 2013
Kampala ? East Africa's horticulture could face a severe crisis due to 'species jump' - whereby a disease moves from a known host to new and unusual ones - affecting fruits, vegetables, and medicinal and ornamental plants.
Researchers in Uganda have discovered that the Black Coffee Twig Borer, a devastating coffee pest, has crossed over from Robusta coffee to about 40 plant species including avocadoes, cocoa, eggplant, ginger, guavas, jackfruit, mangoes and tomatoes.
...
"It has been reported in many countries in Africa, including Kenya and northern Tanzania, which are already highly infested," says Godfrey Kagezi, a researcher and entomologist at the Coffee Research Centre (COREC), based at the National Agricultural Research Organisation.
...
The pest, native to Asia, has slowly spread to the rest of the world. When the small black beetle attacks coffee, it destroys 90 per cent of the plant, as it does with both fruit and vegetables.
...
Full text:
