In Kerala, the highest producer of coconut in the country, the pest attack had assumed epidemic proportion in eight out of the 14 districts. Pollachi and other coconut producing regions in Tamil Nadu are also afflicted by the pest while infection is also reported from coconut growing regions in Karnataka. The origin of the pest called Eriophyid Mite in English and Mandari in Malayalam still remains a mystery.

Sources in the Coconut Development Board (CDB) said the infection was first noticed in Ernakulam district in Kerala last year. But failure to identify and take proper preventive measures to check its growth had resulted in the problem assuming alarming proportions.

The CDB had givenRs 9.6 million last year to the state government controlled agencies to fight the problem . The board plans to provide more money in the current fiscal after evaluating the utilisation of the fund in the previous year.

The infection had struck the central region of Kerala considered as the main coconut producing centres of the state. The infection is widespread in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Palakkad. There are also reports of infection in some parts of Calicut and Kollam districts. The pest attack has also been reported in Pollachi and other regions of coconut producing centres in Tamil Nadu and some parts of Karnataka. Sources in the agriculture department in Kerala said the infection had affected nearly 112,000 hectares of land under coconut cultivation in the state. Kerala is having a total of 1.45 million hectares of land under coconut.

The coconut farmers in Kerala are already suffering from root-welt disease, the cause of which is still unknown.Situation in Kerala is grim as 410,000 hectares of land under coconut is affected by the mysterious root-welt disease.

The situation is further compounded by the low productivity of coconut in the state. Kerala's productivity is lower than the national average.While the per hectare productivity at the national level is 6,898 nuts, Kerala's productivity was only 5,793 . Tamil Nadu with 11,620 nuts per hectare tops in productivity followed by Andhra Pradesh with 8216 nuts per hectare.

B Sathiamma, CP Radhakrishnar Nair and PK Koshy scientists of Central Plantation Research Institute in Kayamakulam in Kerala pointed out that the mite having less than one millimeter ``inhabit in the floral bracts and the tender portion of the nut covered by the perianth peasants.''

C Muthiah and R Bhaskaran of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University says the mite pierce the tender tissue and feed on the sap resulting in scarring growing nut, deformation and reduced copra yield. Severe infestation in the early button stage leadsbutton shedding resulting in yield loss.

The cause of the mite which multiplies at a rapid speed and spread through wind is unknown. A scientist in Coconut Development Board felt that unusual warm climate in Kerala during 1998 might have caused this phenomenon.

Scientists in research institutes and CDB have recommended the use of decophol, a chemical to the affected trees. The mixture of neem oil and garlic was also found to be quite effective in checking the growth. The difficulty in getting pure neem oil is proving to be a dampener, sources said.