Project monitors more than 160 farms and traces x-rays of the leaf miner and coffee borer

To keep coffee production high, it is essential to pay attention to the management of the coffee plantation, especially to two of the main pests of the crop: the leaf miner (Leucoptera coffeella) and the coffee borer (hypothenemus hampei).

The first causes damage to coffee tree leaves, with its larvae reducing the plant's photosynthetic capacity. Consequently, it reduces the productive capacity of the coffee plantation by 50% to 80% in more severe cases. The coffee borer is caused by a beetle that directly attacks the fruit; inside it reproduces, causing damage to the quality and yield of production.

To help coffee growers in this arduous mission, Bayer, in partnership with agtech Sima (Integrated Agricultural Monitoring System), developed MIP Café, a project that began in mid-October last year in the main producing regions of the country. Monitoring consisted of the installation of traps with attractants in the field and in-person monitoring by the Bayer team, with fortnightly counting of specimens and plant analysis.

The project involved the participation of 169 farms located in the main coffee producing regions of Brazil, distributed in the states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, São Paulo and Bahia, that is, in more than 85% of the cultivation areas. In total, 683 traps were installed in 241 plots. To monitor all of them, more than 1.061 field visits were carried out.

“We seek to bring quality service and sustainable results to the business, through periodic monitoring and recommendations for the use of our solutions at the correct time. We believe that for the first year we have actually managed to take this approach of monitoring and rational and high-performance use, with excellent results”, he said. Rodrigo Silva (right in photo), coffee field marketing manager at Bayer.

The input of information collected in the field about pests was carried out directly by technicians into the Sima application, and this feeds into the database for generating reports. The project showed that both the borer and the leaf miner are pests that, in addition to causing an impact on coffee farming, are highly complex to control. “The MIP project came to provide real-time data for more assertive decision-making, both in the use of our technologies and in recommending more efficient integrated pest management,” added Silva.

According to the Bayer professional, the project has the potential to be expanded to other producing regions, thus expanding the range of pest traps. “For this 2023/24 cycle, we will expand the areas monitored with Bayer partners and customers, seeking to increase the reach of this tool for national coffee farming”, he reinforced.

Information in the palm of your hand

Sima's platform allows, in a few clicks and from any smartphone, to register new traps, follow the monitoring with an exact description of the plot, name of the farm and producer, its state and city.

In each monitoring, various data are added to the platform, such as trap condition, count of moths found and others. The reports also contain some indicators, such as georeferenced information, analysis of brocaded fruits and percentage of affected leaves.

The platform also allows photographic recording with the date and time that are automatically filled in after saving the information. “Everything we can monitor within all phases of these two insects, we monitor by generating various data from the farms”, he pointed out. Maurício Varela (left in photo), agronomist and co-founder of agtech.