Kaʻū News Briefs, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023

Mediterranean fruit fly is one of the invasive species that damages fruits and other Hawai'i crops and is one of the reasons that much produce can not be exported. Photo by Sheina Sim/PBARC

COFFEE BERRY BORER AND COFFEE LEAF RUST are two of the many invasive species damaging Hawai'i agriculture and wildlife targeted by $2.5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture going to Hawai'i's Plant Pest & Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program. Jill Tokuda, Congresswoman for Kaʻū and all of rural Hawai'i, and Ed Case, Congressman for urban Hawai'i, made the announcement Friday, the funding coming from the USDA's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service.

Coffee Berry Borer destroys coffee beans and costs Kaʻū Coffee farmers much money and labor to fight them. Photo from state Department of Agriculture

    Case said, “Invasive species pose an especially grave threat to Hawai‘i’s unique ecosystems, natural resources and agricultural communities because of its unique geography. Hawai‘i is the most isolated island chain and one of the most ecologically diverse places in the world. A 2014 survey identified 9,975 endemic species in Hawai‘i. Tragically, due to invasive species, Hawai‘i has become the endangered species and extinction capital of the world. We currently have 503 species listed as endangered, more than any other state and almost half of the total endangered species nationwide.”
    Tokuda said, “I have walked through farms devastated by infestation and disease. I've talked with farmers struggling to keep their family farms going. This funding from the USDA comes at a crucial time for Hawaiʻiʻs ecological system which has been increasingly threatened by invasive species. We are on the front lines of a climate crisis that has given rise to widespread infestations, and our producers are left with ruined crops and

Hala scale insects significantly damages the native hala plant, used for weaving. Photo from state Department of Agriculture

 spending their hard earned money fighting these pests. They need support from the federal government, and I’m dedicated to making sure that Hawaiʻi receives its fair share of resources in future years to protect our precious crops.”
    The funding comes at a time when farmers were devastated last year by the combination of a drought, an infestation of the coffee berry borer beetle and the coffee leaf rust fungus. Funding is focused on the prevention of invasive species from entering the islands and for the prevention and mitigation of fruit fly impacts.
    Specific projects include: Hawai'i Detector Dog Program; Molecular diagnostic catalog for tracking invasive noctuid moth introductions in Hawai‘i; integrative identification methods for Bactrocera fruit flies; developing molecular diagnostic tools to determine strain and mating status of fruit fly incursions; identification of oriental fruit fly larvae trap captures; field testing of bait stations containing a fungal pathogen to control invasive fruit flies; development of protein food odor based chemical lure for female oriental fruit fly; optimizing bacterial probiotic establishment for Medfly Sterile Insect Technique; and developing an insecticide rotation to combat spinosad-resistance in three species of invasive Tephritidae fruit flies.
    Additional programs are the management of hala scale insect in Hawai'i, and survey of its potential biological control agents in its native range; enhanced mitigation and rapid response to introduced snails, earthworms, and flatworms in Hawai‘i, and and a systems approach for the management of coffee berry borer in Hawai'i and Puerto Rico with emphasis on biological control.
    The Hawai'i members of Congress issued a joint statement, saying, “Our year-round growing cycle produces some of the highest quality crops in the world, from sugar and pineapple to cattle and specialty crops like fruit and cut flowers. Hawaiʻi’s unique crops are also more susceptible to invasive species and have no natural defenses to combat the threats. This is why we are united in fighting to secure as much funding to support Hawaiʻi’s plants and agriculture resources as possible."