KILLER FUNGUS FOR COCA CROPS?

BOGOTA, Colombia - On a Hawaiian island, a killer fungus once ravaged a
field of coca bushes Coca-Cola hoped would provide flavoring for its soft
drinks.

The plague in the 1970s ruined Coca-Cola's plan to buy coca outside the
Andean region. But it excited counterdrug experts in Washington, who later
spent millions on a quest for a biological weapon to destroy the Andean
bushes fueling the cocaine trade.

Now, under prodding from Washington, a United Nations agency wants to test
the laboratory-grown fungus on a small plot in Colombia, where much of the
world's coca is grown. The proposal has whipped up a minor tempest.
Opponents say the fungus might be toxic to farmers and wreak havoc on
jungles that are treasures of biodiversity. Advocates say the fungus may
become a "silver bullet" to kill coca plants and leave other plants unaffected.

"Our experts tell us that it is worth trying," said Klaus Nyholm, director
of the U.N. Drug Control Program's office in Colombia and Ecuador.

U.S. scientists say they don't know whether the fungus would kill the
nearly 300,000 acres of coca grown in Colombia safely without affecting
other flora or human life.

"The tests show so far that it is a reasonably good control agent. But I
wouldn't extrapolate from that that it will work in Colombia," said Eric
Rosenquist, a national program leader at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Research Service in Beltsville, Md.

U.S. counterdrug experts, though, cite compelling reasons to experiment
further with the fungus, fusarium oxysporum, which is considered a plant
pathogen, or mycoherbicide.

For one, they say the fungus can be attached to seeds and dropped from high
altitude. That beats the current strategy, in which U.S.-financed
crop-dusters buzz illegal coca fields at 150 feet or so - sometimes risking
a hail of bullets from the ground. Moreover, planes could fly at night to
drop the fungus, using sensors to target coca fields.

Doubts exist whether a limited test in Colombia even will take place. While
aides to President Andres Pastrana reportedly have expressed a "keen
interest" to the U.N. agency to test the fungus, Environment Minister Juan
Mayr said he is adamantly opposed.

In 1999, amid an outcry from environmentalists and ranchers, the state of
Florida shelved a plan to test another strain of fusarium oxysporum against
illegal marijuana crops. "If it's bad for Florida, why is it good for us?"
asked Sen. Rafael Orduz.

In 1987, research into ways to battle coca quickly focused on fusarium
oxysporum, the same fungus that was identified through DNA testing as the
cause of the wilt in Hawaii.

Coca-Cola has relied on the coca leaf for flavoring since 1905, a company
spokesman said. But the cocaine content is taken out under a process
controlled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The fusarium fungus is among the most common on Earth. Hundreds of strains
exist, each one attacking a specific plant. Virtually all cultivated plants
have a fusarium specific to them.