Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
Pomeroon coconut industry under threat from worm infestation
– several farms reportedly affected
Lower Pomeroon coconut farmers especially in the Grant Tenez Ferme locale, are calling on the Agriculture Ministry to intervene in what they say is a massive infestation of the ‘coconut worm.’
The dreaded worms have reportedly affected several hundred acres of cultivated coconut farms.
The coconut tree is the sole source of income for hundreds of residents of Pomeroon and the infestation has reportedly reached a critical stage in a matter of days.
The dreaded worms on one of the infested trees
Farmers are fearful that their entire farms could be destroyed.
This newspaper visited several of the farms and witnessed the initial damage firsthand with some farmers resorting to the use of the insecticide monocrotophus, the supply of which has reportedly run short.
Monocrotophus is acutely toxic to birds and humans, and has been banned in several countries worldwide.
Farmers in the area have visited the technical officer in the locale and have been promised supplies of other insecticides.
This is yet to be forthcoming according to the farmers.
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