Strategies and administrative reforms to meet a biological threat to Papua New Guinea's coffee industry

Abstract

Papua New Guinea (PNG) faces a major threat to its coffee production, a major source of its export income, due to the accidental introduction of the fungus Hemileia vastatrix which causes rust in coffee. Both government administrators and coffee growers were unprepared for this event. Both short-term and long-term strategies to meet this threat are outlined. Short-term measures include improved coffee husbandry by growers and use of fungicides with government assistance. Long-term measures suggested include the introduction of rust-resistant varieties, crop diversification, intercropping and mixed cropping. The successful implementation of such strategies is likely to require reforms in the government's administration of the coffee industry in PNG. Some shortcomings of the existing administrative system are indicated and an alternative structure is proposed. It is suggested that many LDCs dependent on perennial crops could face similar biological threats to their crops, so that PNG's case may be of wider interest.