Abstract:
Coffee berry borer is one of the important insect pests known to cause considerable yield loss
in Ethiopia. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the level of infestation of
coffee berries at different developmental stages under garden and plantation management
systems. A 3*2*4 factorial experiment was carried out at three locations (Baya, Shone and
Anderacha kebele in southwestern Ethiopia), under two management systems(Garden and
Plantation) and four coffee berry development stages (Red ripe, Dried over ripe, Fallen and
Dried left over cherries) with three replications. A purposive sampling technique was
followed to select the woredas and Kebeles while fruit assessment was done on 300 randomly
selected sample fruits from each sampling plot. Moreover, perception, knowledge and
management practices of 200 randomly selected farmers, 30 DAs and 24 experts of Teppi
coffee plantation enterprise were assessed. The results revealed that there was a significant
interaction (p<0.0001) between location and berry development stage and berry development
stage with management systems. Significantly the highest proportion of damaged berries
(37.5%), number of holes per bean (10.88), weight loss of berries (8.11%), number of larvae
(4.11), and number of adults (7.55) were observed on dried leftover cherries at Baya
(1110m.a.s.l) while the highest percentage of discolored beans (64.91%) was obtained from
fallen berries at Anderacha (1720m.a.s.l) and the highest mean damage (24.51%) and weight
loss (4.86%) was recorded for dried leftover cherries under plantation coffee management
system. On contrary, the lowest mean 0.50, 0.83, 0.17, 0.00, and 0.63 % of damaged berries,
number of holes per bean, weight loss, number of larvae on red ripe cherry and number of
adults per cherry were recorded at Shone on fallen berries, respectively, but no damage of
CBB was observed on red ripe cherries at Anderacha. Both mean number of eggs (2.44) and
pupas (0.50) were higher at Baya on dried leftover cherries, but lowest mean number of eggs
(0.76) and pupa (0.08) were recorded at Anderacha on red ripe cherries. Results of the
current study showed highest coffee berry borer damage and its effect on dried leftover
cherries at Baya and less on red ripe cherries at Anderacha. Despite this fact, 87% of coffee
farmers, 53.30% of DAs and 29.20% experts of the enterprise had no prior knowledge about
the typical symptom of CBB damage and only 13.3% of DAs and 25% of the experts of
enterprise applied/assisted CBB control measures. Therefore, early and effective harvesting
of red ripe cherries, growing at higher elevation (above 1400m.a.s.l), removal of dried
leftover cherries and creating awareness/training among stakeholders pertaining to CBB and
its controls are important components to manage the damage of coffee berry borer
