Economic benefits from managing coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) in Hawaii

Authors: LEE, DONNA - University Of Hawaii; Johnson, Melissa; ARISTIZABAL, LUIS - Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council; SHRINER, SUZANNE - Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council; CHAN, CATHERINE - University Of Hawaii; MIYASAKA, SUSAN - University Of Hawaii; Wall, Marisa

Submitted to: Insects
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2023
Publication Date: 4/1/2023
Citation: Lee, D., Johnson, M.A., Aristizabal, L.F., Shriner, S., Chan, C., Miyasaka, S., Wall, M.M. 2023. Economic benefits from managing coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) in Hawaii. Insects. 14(4). Article 350. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14040350.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14040350

Interpretive Summary: Coffee berry borer (CBB) is considered the most damaging insect pest of coffee worldwide. Our aim was to estimate the economic benefits of managing CBB in Hawaii under three scenarios: 1) the use of B. bassiana alone; 2) the implementation of early IPM which combined monitoring and sanitation with spraying B. bassiana; and 3) the use of research-based IPM which provided insights into CBB development, flight behavior, infestation patterns, monitoring techniques, and spray optimization. As more farmers adopted CBB management practices and the recommended practices improved, yields, prices and revenue gains all increased by a margin of 32–60%. From 2011 to 2021, the cumulative gain in revenue was $251M with the highest benefit coming from research-based IPM at $130M, followed by early IPM at $69M, and B. bassiana at $50M. Annually, when all three management types are adopted, the highest return is from research-based IPM.

Technical Abstract: Coffee berry borer (CBB) is considered the most damaging insect pest of coffee worldwide. CBB was first detected on Hawai'i Island in 2010, and quickly spread throughout the state’s coffee-growing regions. With the introduction of this pest, Hawaii’s small yet economically important coffee industry was changed forever with growers facing significantly higher production and labor costs, as well as decreased yield and coffee quality. In the present study we assessed the economic benefits of managing CBB based on three strategies that emerged in Hawaii over the last decade: 1) the use of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana alone, 2) the implementation of early integrated pest management (IPM), which combined monitoring and sanitation with spraying B. bassiana, and 3) the use of research-based IPM which focused on understanding CBB biology across Hawaii’s growing regions, improving monitoring techniques, optimizing sprays of B. bassiana, and assessing the impact and feasibility of cultural controls. From 2011 to 2021, the economic benefits from managing CBB were $52 million using B. bassiana alone, $69 million from early IPM, and $130 million from research-based IPM, for a total of $251 million from all management. Our findings suggest that all types of management provide economic benefits to Hawaii growers, but management strategies based on Hawaii-specific research have provided the greatest gains in coffee yield, price, and revenue.