Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) Control and

management on Oil Palm in the Solomon Island

Richard Dikrey1, Paul Gende2, Chris Simon2, Craig Gibsone 2, Laura Villamizar3, Sean Marshall3, Trevor Jackson3, Cheah See
Siang1 and Emad Jaber1
1Crop Protection Dep., PNG Oil Palm Research Association (PNGOPRA), Dami Research Station, Kimbe. Papua New Guinea. 2 Guadalcanal Plains
Palm Oil Plantations Limited (GPPOL), Honiara, Solomon Islands. 3 AgResearch Limited, Lincoln Research Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Introduction Discussion
An invasive population of coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB; CRB control efforts using the wholistic approach such as
Oryctes rhinoceros) was reported in 2015 at Solomon sanitation of breeding sites, chipping palm trunks during
Island. This pest was responsible for huge loss in oil palm replant and chemical control have significantly improved
yields due to the damage it caused and progressively the fight against CRB-G in GPPOL. By that it is evident
invaded Guadalcanal Plain Oil Palm (GPPOL) growing that monitoring and reporting play’s vital role for early
areas. detection of pest damage hence timely controls are
implemented.
The new CRB population was identified as a novel
haplotype (clade I) groping commonly referred to as CRB-G
and invaded without its major natural enemy, Oryctes
rhinoceros nudivirus (OrNV). In response to invasion of
this exotic pest, GPPOL implemented a series pest
management strategies to control CRB-G.

Methods
The pest control plan included, cultural control by
destroying all available breeding sites including old palm
trunks and EFB decomposition sites. In addition to that,
mechanical chipping of fresh palm trunks was carried out
to break down palm tissue into smaller chipped matter for
fast decomposition. Disc harrowing of chipped palm trunks
was also implemented to break life cycle of CRB at its
earlier life stages (Larvae/pupae). Targeted chemical
control measures were also implemented to assist in
minimizing the damage caused by CRB-G to improve
economic returns.
Results
Figure 1. Beetle attack on young mature palms on GPPOL
Estates as of January 2023

2.5
Fresh damage on plams (%)

1.5

0.5

0
Okea Ngalimbiu Tetere 1 Tetere 2 Mbalisuna Mberande
Oil Palm Estate

Figure 2. Trend of fresh beetle attack on oil palm in GPPOL

Estates from January 2022- January, 2023.
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
Conclusions
Damage *%)

0.6
0.5
0.4
CRB-G control effort in GPPOL have been successful. Over a
0.3
period of 7 years, GPPOL managed to control damage levels
0.2
below 5% as of January 2023. Ongoing research, in
0.1
collaboration with AgResearch NZ to develop long-term
0
biological control strategies includes evaluating the efficacy of
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 viral biocontrol agents through lab and field assessment
Time (Month) trials. Additionally, a novel Metarhizium majus strain is also
#REF! #REF! #REF! #REF! #REF! #REF! being evaluated to determine its effectiveness in the field.