MEDIA RELEASE
WHAT:
The Department of Agriculture, Big Island Legislative Delegation, UH College of Tropical Agriculture, Kona coffee growers, and members of the Hawaii coffee industry will meet to discuss the recent discovery of a pest known as the coffee berry borer at Kona coffee farms on the Big Island. The coffee berry borer is considered a devastating coffee pest that reduces yield and quality of the coffee bean. Given the potential impact to the Kona coffee industry in Hawaii, the purpose of the meeting is to bring the industry together, pool information, discuss what has been done so far, and what action to take to eradicate the pest.
WHEN:
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Kona Historical Society
81-6551 Mamalahoa Highway
WHO:
- Rep. Clift Tsuji, Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture
- Big Island Legislators
- Sandra Lee Kunimoto, Chairperson – Board of Agriculture, Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA)
- Ken Grace, Interim Associate Dean of Research, University of Hawai`i at Manoa – College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH-CTAHR)
- Eric Jang, Research Leader, U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service, Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center
WHY:
The identification of the coffee berry borer in Hawaii was confirmed on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture entomology laboratory in Riverdale, MD. The coffee berry borer is a small beetle, native to Central Africa and is found in many coffee-growing regions of the world, including Central and South America. The beetle bores into the coffee “cherry” to lay its eggs. The larvae feed on the coffee bean, reducing the yield and quality of the bean. Because the larvae are inside the bean, it makes it difficult to control by pesticides.
For information on the briefing Contact:
Miles Hakoda, Director of Communications, UH-CTAHR – (808) 956-3093, e-mail: mhakoda@hawaii.edu
See a post on the meeting here
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Will you post an update? We won’t be able to make it :(