Mars in a bitter struggle with cocoa-addicted moths
Mars, one of the world's biggest chocolate producers, is waging war on a new and deadly competitor: a small south-east Asian moth that has a cocoa addiction.
The maker of M&Ms and Snickers has sent a team to Papua New Guinea to combat an outbreak of the cocoa pod borer.
The innocuous-sounding borer strikes fear into producers of chocolate - of which cocoa is the key ingredient - after it infected about a fifth of Indonesia's crop in 1998, causing an estimated $20m (￡10m) in damage. Past outbreaks also have hit cocoa production in the Philippines and Malaysia.
The moth lays its eggs on the cocoa pods, which the larvae then feed off. Any outbreak of the moth and subsequent disruption on global supply could affect the markets, where cocoa prices have recently suffered volatility. Cocoa futures on London's Liffe exchange gained 18 per cent from the start of June to July 14, but have since dropped 16 per cent.
Roger Dehnel, cocoa sustainability director for Mars, said the multinational saw the discovery of the cocoa pod borer in Papua New Guinea as a "real threat to overall production in Asia".
Asia contributes about 17 per cent of total cocoa productionin the estimated $5bn global industry.
The moths also could spell disaster for Papua New Guinea's economy and the livelihood of its small farmers. Cocoa is the country's second largest agricultural export, after coffee. "This is potentially devastating for Papua New Guinea," Mr Dehnel said.
In April, the cocoa pod borer was discovered in parts of East New Britain province, one ofthe leading cocoa producers in Papua New Guinea. A "national response team" has been working to eradicate the pest and will soon shift its efforts to a neighbouring province.
Mars is working closely with the US Department of Agriculture and other partners to test a range of preventative methods.
They include a "honey trap" strategy of luring male moths to adhesive traps baited with synthetic female sex pheromones- chemicals emitted by living organisms to send messages to individuals of the same species.
"Pheromones are how they find each other," Mr Dehnel said. "They don't have match.com."
Mr Dehnel said the traps now being supplied to Papua New Guinea were an "elegant solution" to the problem that was "non-impactful" on the environment. "The question we are grappling with is: 'Is it enough moths to make a difference?' " he said.
巧克力生产商玛氏派人赴东南亚对付可可蛀虫
全球最大的巧克力生产商之一玛氏(Mars)，正在向一个致命的新竞争对手宣战：一种对可可上瘾的东南亚蛀虫。
这家M&Ms巧克力豆和士力架(Snickers)的制造商已向巴布亚新几内亚派遣了一个团队，以抗击当地爆发的可可豆蛀虫灾害。
这种蛀虫听起来无伤大雅，但令巧克力生产商感到害怕――1998年，它殃及了印度尼西亚大约五分之一的可可作物，估计损失约为2000万美元。可可是制造巧克力的关键原料。
一旦这种虫灾爆发，并由此造成全球供应中断，都将对市场产生影响。近来可可价格已出现较大波动。从6月初到7月14日，伦敦国际金融期货交易所(LIFFE)的可可期货价格上涨了18%，但此后又回落了16%。
