BY LORETTA B MANELE
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) lack technical capacity and money to utilise in the fight against CRB (Coconut rhinoceros beetle).
Samson Viulu, Permanent Secretary for MAL shed light on this when asked by Matthew Wale, Opposition Leader on the number of trees lost or that have not produced up to capacity because of CRB during a PAC (Public Accounts Committee) hearing into the 2026 National Budget (Appropriation Bill 2026) on Monday, November 17, 2025.
Viulu told PAC that in terms of the battle against CRB, while they don’t have the exact field data, they think they can win this fight as compared to that of the Giant African snail.
In regards to CRB, he explained that they now have a small scientific lab in Henderson facility, where they are using fungus and virus infected with lava on that beetle to release it as a biocontrol approach.
Viulu mentioned that with workers carrying out this approach it is quite effective at GPPOL.
He added that this biocontrol approach is also being carried out in Western Province, Russell Islands, and certain parts of Guadalcanal, Malaita and Isabel Provinces.
The Permanent Secretary highlighted that what the ministry is also doing now is instead of controlling CRB they want to eradicate it thus have chosen Bellona to carry this out.
He explained that Bellona was selected because the movement of people is not as heavy as compared to other islands as well as the low rate of shipping service there.
“So, we want to eradicate.
“Instead of control, we are targeting eradication in Bellona.
“So, we’ve just placed extension officers there to start last month and then hopefully with the presence there, we can coordinate the movement on this,” said Viulu.
He said while reach out from the ministry is very minimal in this endeavour, this is one area they are talking with donor partners about.
“This is one area that we are still talking to donor partners to help us strengthen because we don’t really have the technical capacity, especially for using what biocontrol measures,”, he said.
When asked by the Opposition Leader whether the reason for this is the number of human resource or that of financial means, Viulu said it’s both human and financial resources that they lack to address the spread of CRB in the country.
As the ministry struggles in it’s fight against CRB, the Permanent Secretary said the New Zealand government is helping them.
And while they might get a little allocation to address CRB, it may still be insufficient.
The Opposition Leader asked how much it would cost to have a really robust response to CRB to which Viulu in his response said, roughly, they would need around 6 to 10 million Solomon Dollars per annum.
For feedback, contact: [email protected]
