Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Farmers residing on the slopes of a smouldering Indonesian volcano are thanking the mountain for getting rid of a pest that had devastated the area's coconut palms, a report here said Tuesday.
Gamkonora volcano on Halmahera island in Indonesia's North Maluku province erupted in July, shooting rocks, ash and smoke into the air for days and prompting thousands to flee their homes.
"Almost all our coconut trees were previously ruined by the sexava pest.
Now we are completely free of this pest, following Gamkonora blanketing the area with ash in July," Yakup, a local farmer, told the state Antara news agency.
Other areas on the same island that were not inundated by the ash continue to suffer from the pest, an insect which voraciously eats the leaves of the coconut tree, greatly reducing the coconut harvest.
Coconuts processed into copra are a main source of livelihood for residents in the area.
"When Gamkonora erupted... the ash it spewed made us all suffer, and many got coughs and the flu. But it turns out that this very same ash has helped us overcome this sexava pest," said another farmer, Julis.
Indonesia sits on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," where continental plates meet, causing frequent volcanic and seismic activity. The archipelago nation has the world's highest number of active volcanoes.
Gamkonora, located some 2,700 kilometres (1,600 miles) northeast of Jakarta, has erupted 12 times since records have been kept. It last blew 20 years ago.
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