Borers in timber stocks scaring importers

MANGALORE: The discovery of wood borers in imported timber stocks at the timber yard of the New Mangalore Port (NMP) by a team of scientists from Bangalore is raising anxiety levels among importers and the phytosanitary division at the yard.
What is phytosanitary certification? Under the International Plant Protection Convention, it has been agreed that all signatory countries will carry out required inspection and treatment to ensure that noxious pests are not disseminated along with plants and plant products exported from their respective countries.
The phytosanitary certification, that the consignment has been inspected or treated according to the importing country’s requirements, is made on a document called the ‘phytosanitary certificate’ sent along with other trade documents for each consignment. The conditions for export vary with commodities as well as with importing countries.
Not without reason. Primarily, the yard does not have reliable phytosanitary inspection during unloading of logs from ships, and secondly, sanitation is hardly carried out on regular basis at the yard.
In uncontrolled situations, about one-third of the logs in a timber company’s stocks are attacked by some species of wood boring insects. And on an average, the mills face 30 per cent reduction in high-value wood products. Wood borer damage also results in remanufacturing costs and a huge loss in export opportunities.
The construction industry is also concerned since treating infested wood after installation is a costly and a messy affair.Recently, a team from the Wood Bio-Degradation Division (WBD), Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore, visited the NMP timber yard, as part of their year-long project, sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Dr O.K. Rema Devi, head of WBD, told The Times of India, they noticed fungi growth in imported wood and also picked up some specimens of borers from the barks in the yard. They also noticed borer traces in many of the logs imported from Malaysia. Devi observed that the species had to be determined — whether they were alien or native borers— at the laboratory in Bangalore.
“If Indian, there’s no cause for worry. But if it is an alien species, then we have to see what the borer does to Indian wood and take necessary precautions’’. Adds Dr Anand, a scientist in the team: “Generally alien borers are very hard as Malaysian/Burmese wood is of a hard variety. In case they invade here, the loss can be tremendous as most of the wood in India is soft and borers can reduce it to powder within no time.�
Dr Devi pointed out the United States had stopped importing wood from Asian countries after the Asian long-horned borer beetle caused considerable damage a few years ago.
Wood borers are also called ‘powder post beetles’ as when they invade in large numbers they are able to turn the inside of a piece of wood into nothing more than powder. They can do significant damage to furniture, wooden floor and structural timber.
Dr Rema Devi said, NMP was the first yard they had visited and they would be visiting other yards and submitting the report to DST. She said, the objective of WBD was conservation of forest wealth by protecting the trees and timber from bio-degradation.
The phytosanitary certificate, issued by the forest office at the yard, showed nil infestation in the wooden logs imported from Malaysia and other countries. And the wood has not been treated by any chemicals before exporting.
Dr Devi notes that as the wood was lying in the open for a long time, it ‘may’ have been invaded by native beetles. About the species collected, Dr Devi said she had not seen it before. “It may be native or foreign,� she said on Tuesday.
Interestingly, the quarantine division at the yard has waken up on Monday and is asking importers to get their logs disinfected —after the scientific team found borers.
The yard annually gets 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of all kinds of wood, valued at Rs 500 crore.