Abstract/Summary

A survey was conducted of 120 farms in eight provinces in Indonesia (Central, South, South-East and West Sulawesi; West Sumatra; Lampung; East Java; and West Papua) of cocoa pod borer (CPB) and Helopeltis incidence and control. The data were collected over a 3-year period (2014–17) as part of a broader survey of farmer practices and productivity. Farmers were interviewed each year, and farms were monitored every 6 weeks for productivity, and pest and disease incidence. The presence of pests was identifed as a key challenge by a high proportion of farmers (98%, 89.8% and 77.6% of farmers in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively). CPB was recorded in all provinces; the highest incidence of severe infestation was in Central Sulawesi, and the lowest incidence was in Lampung. Most farmers conducted some sort of control against CPB; the largest proportion used pesticides (72.5%, 73.7% and 69.8% of farmers in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively). Helopeltis incidence varied signifcantly between provinces (P < 0.001); the highest number of infested pods per tree was recorded in East Java. The proportion of farmers using pesticides against Helopeltis was 60.8% in 2014 and fell to 49.1% in 2016. A number of farmers in East Java used biological control in the form of black ants against both pests. On average, 10% of on-farm expenditure was on pesticides. Overall, the survey illustrated the wide-ranging occurrence of both pests in Indonesia, with infestation being higher in some provinces than others. Although many farmers were employing control measures, there was a high level of dependency on pesticides, suggesting that more targeted control strategies may be needed.