Belize Trains Officers to Save Coconuts From Pests, Deadly Disease

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and New Growth Industries has wrapped up a five-day training workshop with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aimed at strengthening Belize’s ability to identify and manage pests and diseases threatening the country’s coconut industry.

The Training of Trainers Workshop on Coconut Pest and Disease Management is part of an FAO technical cooperation programme supporting the revision of Belize’s National Rural Development Strategy, with a specific focus on the coconut sector. The initiative also ties into the global “One Country One Priority Product” campaign, which promotes green enterprise and sustainable development within the country’s growing coconut industry.

The training targeted the ministry’s fruit tree programme team, along with district extension officers and CARDI officers responsible for coconut production nationwide.

Over the first four days, participants worked through technical sessions on integrated pest management, covering threats including the coconut weevil, red mites, and red ring disease. Sessions focused on biological identification and modern management techniques aimed at helping officers deliver faster, more accurate diagnoses in the field.

The workshop closed with a hands-on field and laboratory day, where officers practised identifying mite infestations and fungal disease symptoms directly in local plantations, along with laboratory techniques used to confirm red ring disease in infected plant tissue.

Officials say the trained cohort will now move into a second phase, rolling out these practices across each district during September and October, with the goal of protecting smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and strengthening the climate resilience of Belize’s coconut industry.