Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jun 2005
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2005 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Associated Press

SCIENTISTS: INSECT WOULD KILL COCA CROPS

BOGOTA,Colombia (AP) -- A group of Colombian scientists believe they've
found a way to wipe out cocaine production: unleash an army of hungry moth
caterpillars. But critics of the proposal say the chance for "ecological
mischief" is high.

The plan envisions breeding thousands of beige-colored Eloria Noyesi moths
in laboratories, packing them into boxes and releasing them into steamy
coca-growing regions of Colombia, the world's main supplier of the drug. The
moths, about twice the size of a fly, are native only to the Andean region
of South America.

Colombian Environment Minister Sandra Suarez told The Associated Press that
the government considers the proposal an "interesting alternative" to
existing eradication methods.

Carlos Alberto Gomez, president of the privately funded National Network of
Botanical Gardens, made the proposal last week. He said the moths would
naturally make a beeline for the coca plants and lay their eggs on the
leaves. About a week later, caterpillars would emerge and destroy the plants
by devouring the leaves.

Each moth could lay eggs on more than a hundred plants in one month, said
Gonzalo Andrade, a biology professor with Colombia's Universidad Nacional,
who has been working with the botanical garden group. He called it a natural
solution to eradication.

"It would be like fumigating the crops with moths," Andrade said.

But the idea has already drawn criticism.

Ricardo Vargas, director of the Colombian environmental group Andean Action,
contended that while the moths may be native to this region, there's nothing
natural about releasing thousands of them into small areas. The tropics have
the world's most diverse plant life, he said, so the moths would likely
threaten other plants as well.

"With a plan like this, the chance for ecological mischief is very high and
very dangerous," Vargas said.

Gomez's association also recommended the use of other natural enemies of
coca such as fungus.

The proposal, and the Colombian government's interest, comes five years into
a massive fumigation program of coca crops in Colombia, paid for and mostly
carried out by the U.S. government.

A record number of acres was fumigated by the crop dusters last year, but
the total number of acres under cultivation at the end of 2004 was slightly
more than the number left over in 2003 after spraying. Peasant farmers have
been simply replanting the fast-growing coca, frustrating the eradication
efforts.

Andrade said moths would better counter the replanting problem because they
would continue to reproduce and attack the plants.

The idea to use biological agents to eradicate coca is not new.

In 2000, the Colombian government rejected a proposal by the United States
to introduce a fungus called Fusarium oxysporum to coca plants as a means of
eradication. Colombia said it was concerned about possible mutations and
adverse affects on people and the environment in the delicate Amazon basin,
where most of Colombia's coca is grown.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh