Efforts to control an invasive insect that has caused significant damage to Hawaii Island’s macadamia crop are moving forward in the state Senate.
Efforts to control an invasive insect that has caused significant damage to Hawaii Island’s macadamia crop are moving forward in the state Senate.
Senate Bill 2988, which calls for funding additional research to study the ecology of the macadamia felted coccid as well as methods of control and elimination, cleared two Senate committees this week. Its companion bill in the House, HB 2596, is set to be heard today before the Committee on Agriculture.
The Senate bill calls for $700,000 to be appropriated to the state Department of Agriculture and the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
“We need to continue our efforts,” John Cross, president of the Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association, said Tuesday.
Cross also is land manager of the Edmund C. Olson Trust, which grows about 1,200 acres of macadamia trees on Hawaii Island.
A tiny insect native to Australia that affects only macadamia trees, the coccid was first discovered in a South Kona orchard in 2005. It is not known how it first arrived.
Since then, the insect has spread around the island. Macadamia felted coccids, though small, live in colonies and cause dieback of branches and leaves.
“It’s especially harmful or devastating in the Ka‘u District, and it has killed trees, reduced yields,” Cross said. He said infestations most recently have been found in Keaau and the South Hilo District.
Macadamia nuts are one of the top five highest-grossing agricultural products in the state, with most farms on Hawaii Island. According to the Hawaii Farm Bureau, production for 2013-14 was 41 million pounds. The estimated farm value for macadamia nuts was $35.7 million.
The DOA and CTAHR research partnership for macadamia felted coccid began in earnest in 2014 with an initial appropriation of $360,000 in state funding. That money was supplemented by $160,000 from the Olson trust and the Royal Hawaiian Orchard, two of the largest macadamia growers in the state.
“The industry’s been really proactive on this issue to get the money going,” said CTAHR assistant researcher Alyssa Cho.
Last month, results from research conducted using the first appropriation were presented at a CTAHR-hosted workshop attended by macadamia farmers from around the island.
“It was the first time that we’ve really had something pulled together to show the industry,” Cross said. “It was a really good session. We learned a little bit more about where all our research dollars went.”
At that meeting, primary researchers Mark Wright, a UH- Manoa entomologist, and Rosemary Gutierrez discussed effects of insecticidal oils on the pest, as well as the role beneficial insects such as ladybugs, a predator of the felted coccid, can play.
“The legislative money the last two years has really helped,” Cho said. “It’s a problem that we didn’t really have … research for.”
The newest appropriation also would include researching the specifics of how the macadamia felted coccid affects yield, in addition to continued study of control methods. Though oils are effective against the pest, they are difficult to employ on larger trees because the entire surface must be covered in order for the treatment to work.
“If you don’t, you still have the re-infestation,” Cho said.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.