Ag officials urge buying local for the holidays

Published on November 14, 2010 in Flowers & Nursery and General Ag News and Notes.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii has a lot of beautiful flowers that are available year-round. But we still think of evergreens and holly when it comes to Christmas decorations.

“I guess we’re kind of conditioned,” said Eric Tanouye, Vice President and General Manager of Green Point Nurseries of Hilo. “We’re all to blame for that. We’re looking for that certain look that maybe we grew up with.

But Hawaii’s agriculture community wants us to consider buying local plants and flowers. “Our locally produced flowers and plants make beautiful arrangements that could be used for holidays. Home settings, entertaining, at the office,” Tanouye said.

Tanouye was among those at the first annual “Buy Local for the Holidays” event Sunday at the Department of Agriculture’s plant quarantine branch facility near Sand Island. Floral designers from around the state were on hand, putting together flower arrangements. The public was also invited to create their own small floral arrangements to take home.

Organizers said there were two big reasons to buy local. First, export orders for Hawaii’s cut flower industry have fallen during the current economic downturn, and buying local would create a homegrown economic stimulus. Second, it would prevent invasive species from entering the state. Continue reading ‘Ag officials urge buying local for the holidays’

Kia‘i Moku: Rauvolfia vomitoria a growing problem

Published on November 14, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

In Western Africa, a medicinal plant teeters on the brink of extinction. Poison devil’s pepper, or Rauvolfia vomitoria, has been overharvested by local people using the plant to treat ailments ranging from psychoses to indigestion. Some healers claim the plant’s chemicals protect the spirit of the patient against witchcraft. However, in Hawaii, R. vomitoria is responsible for an ailment of our natural areas – invading forests with amazing speed. The shrubby tree with an awful name could be at least as invasive, if not more so, than miconia.

Native to subtropical regions of Western Africa, R. vomitoria can live at elevations from sea-level to 5,000 feet. It reaches reproductive maturity within two years and, in Hawaii, flowers and produces fruit year-round. The numerous seeds are contained in an orange fruit eaten and are spread by birds. The plant grows extremely fast: Within five years a seedling will be 12-18 inches across and 30 feet tall.

Mowing or cutting doesn’t discourage this plant; a patch of R. vomitoria on Hawaii Island was 3 to 4 feet tall two months after mowing. “Ralph,” as the plant is unaffectionately called by field crews frantically working to contain this plant, has invaded gulches, pastures and waterways across 2,000 to 3,000 acres in Kohala. This superweed has spread into the mixed ohia forest at 1,600 feet elevation but could expand much farther, becoming a serious pest in agricultural and natural areas. Perhaps most disturbing is R. vomitoria’s ability to outcompete some of the most invasive plant species of tropical forests, gaining a foothold amid eucalyptus and strawberry guava despite a lack of sunlight under the canopy. Continue reading ‘Kia‘i Moku: Rauvolfia vomitoria a growing problem’

Sonia Tastes Hawaii: Hawaiian Style Christmas Wreath Demo

Published on November 7, 2010 in Christmas Tree, General Ag News and Notes and Native Hawaiian Plants.

I was asked to do a demo on how to make a Hawaiian style Christmas wreath at the Kino’ole Farmers Market. The demo was yesterday morning and in spite of lots of rain, the market was lively! We had several people sit through the whole thing (2 hours!) and some came and went and at least 4 people tried their hand at adding a bit to the wreath.

To make a Hawaiian style wreath, you use native plant materials for which you need to go foraging up to the Volcanoes National Park area or on the lower slopes of Mauna Kea on Saddle Road (this is on the island of Hawai’i also known as the Big Island). Before you even start, the first thing you need to do to be able to pick in those areas is to get a special permit, which is free, from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. This permit should be on your car dash clearly visible in case a ranger or other official should stop by to see what you’re up to.

The second thing you do is look around for a good spot in which to forage or go with someone who is already familiar with several choice picking spots. As with most people who make this style wreath, I have my own particular favorite place to pick.

The third thing you need is to know what plant material to look for and what dries well so that the wreath will still look beautiful after its no longer fresh.

If you know all of that already, then you’re ready to start. Continue reading ‘Sonia Tastes Hawaii: Hawaiian Style Christmas Wreath Demo’

Maui Invasive Species group seeks nominees

Published on November 3, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

MAKAWAO – The Maui Invasive Species Committee seeks nominations by Nov. 15 to honor efforts in Maui County to eliminate invasive species.

MISC, the Maui Association of Landscape Professionals and Maui County co-sponsor the Malama I Ka Aina Award. It recognizes a landscaper; plant provider (retail or wholesale nursery, or garden shop); or the owner or manager of a commercial or agricultural property for efforts to keep invasive species out of Maui County.

Application forms are available at websites mauiisc.org or malp.org; click on “what’s new.”

Completed forms should explain how a nominee’s activities or decisions have contributed to keeping the county free of invasive species.

Forward applications via e-mail to miscpr@hawaii.edu, fax to 573-6475 or mail to MISC, P.O. Box 983, Makawao 96768.

Organizers will announce the winner Dec. 4 at the 15th annual Lawn & Garden Fair at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

The winner will receive a plaque and one-year membership in the Maui Association of Landscape Professionals.

For more information, call 573-6472 or send e-mail to miscpr@hawaii.edu.

Maui Invasive Species group seeks nominees – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News

Admired ag inspector turns in his badge

Published on October 28, 2010 in Christmas Tree, General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

After 30 years of protecting native animals and plants, the head of Hawaii’s agricultural inspection operation leaves behind a short-handed and beleaguered team today, worried that invading species are slipping into the islands.

“Shipments are backed up but are still being inspected. That’s the good part,” said Domingo Cravalho Jr., who is retiring as inspection and compliance section chief for the state Department of Agriculture. “Because of the lack of resources and lack of inspectors and the reduction in the amount of good inspections, things are getting through. …

“It’s overwhelming at times and some individuals may be overlooking things or bypassing things. Under the circumstances, we just don’t have enough eyes and ears out there.” Continue reading ‘Admired ag inspector turns in his badge’

Little fire ant infestation eradicated

Published on October 22, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

WAILUKU – An infestation of little fire ants on Maui has been eradicated, the state Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.

The department credited the success to its rapid response and the development of innovative pest control methods.

The ants (Wasmannia auropunctata) can deliver a painful sting. They were discovered in October on a Waihee farm, and the Agriculture Department launched what it said was an “aggressive response to survey, contain and treat the infestation.”

The department obtained a special permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use an experimental ant bait developed by scientist Cas Vanderwoude, with the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The new bait provided an alternative to ground treatments to combat the pest, and it allowed the ants to be attacked in trees and vegetation where they nest. The Waihee area had been treated monthly with the ant bait and since February no little fire ants have been detected at the site of the infestation. Continue reading ‘Little fire ant infestation eradicated’

Kia‘i Moku: Used in reforestation, albizia now poses threat

Published on October 10, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

By LISSA FOX

Near Kualapuu, Molokai, there are Makahiki and hula grounds. Last year, 850 fast-growing invasive trees covered the platforms, where ancient Hawaiians played games as part of the Makahiki festival, the annual celebration marked by several months of peace, thanksgiving and feasting.

These trees originated from the jungles of the Molucca Islands, 5,000 miles away in Indonesia. The islands are part of the Wallaceae “hot spot,” an area of Indonesia with some of the world’s highest levels of biodiversity, including more than 10,000 plant species and 650 different bird species.

Albizia, or Falcataria moluccana, has at least one trait that gives it an advantage over Hawaii’s native plants. Albizia is a nitrogen-fixing tree; bacteria in albizia roots convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form available for the tree. These fertilizer factories built into the roots give albizia an extra boost; albizia can reach 30 feet tall in just two years. Continue reading ‘Kia‘i Moku: Used in reforestation, albizia now poses threat’

Wasps Wage War on Behalf of Wiliwili Trees

Published on September 27, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes, Invasive Species and Native Hawaiian Plants.

News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service

A black, two-millimeter-long wasp from East Africa is helping wage war on one of its own kind—the Erythrina gall wasp, an invasive species that’s decimated Hawaii’s endemic wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) and introduced coral bean trees (Erythrina spp.).

Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) officials “recruited” the beneficial wasp, Eurytoma erythrinae, and first released it in November 2008 after evaluating its host specificity as a biocontrol agent. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist Michael Gates’ scientific description and naming of the species, together with a collaborator, helped HDOA obtain the necessary federal approvals to make the release.

How the gall wasp arrived in Hawaii in April 2005 is unknown, but it quickly found suitable hosts on which to feed and reproduce, first on Oahu and then other Hawaiian islands Continue reading ‘Wasps Wage War on Behalf of Wiliwili Trees’

Pampas grass is an invasive, prolific plant

Published on September 12, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

In the early 1870s, an enterprising nurseryman in Southern California imported a tall, clumping grass with distinctive feathery plumes to his ranch. Over the next several decades, he created an entire industry for the plumes of the plant called pampas grass.

At the height of the plume boom, he was exporting 500,000 plumes a year throughout the United States and Europe, influencing Victorian-era fashion. By the close of the 19th century, pampas plumes were dyed different colors to fill vases, decorate women’s hats and cover parade floats. Eventually the trend ended, but pampas has been used in landscaping ever since.

This invasive grass is anything but fashionable. Now, rather than topping hats and decorating parade floats, the 10-foot-tall feathery plumes top clumps of razor-sharp leaves throughout California. Pampas grass blocks beach access, fuels wildfires and invades native ecosystems. Introduced to Maui in the 1920s, pampas has proved invasive here as well.

Hawaii has two so-called “pampas grass” species: Cortaderia selloana and Cortaderia jubata. Both species of pampas grass have been planted widely in landscaping throughout California, where every backyard population is now a seed source for this invasive plant. Both species also are found on Maui, and jubata has become extremely invasive. Continue reading ‘Pampas grass is an invasive, prolific plant’

Scientists: Mangroves threaten environment

Published on September 1, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

by John Burnett
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer

About 60 people attended a forum on controversial red mangrove eradication Tuesday night at Pahoa Community Center.

The meeting was an effort by the Hawaii County mayor’s office to let all sides sound off on the eradication. The county, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Big Island Invasive Species Council and the environmental group Malama O Puna are among those being sued by Puna resident Sydney Ross Singer over the application of herbicide to mangroves at Wai ‘Opae Marine Life Conservation District in Kapoho, Pohoiki and Onekahakaha Beach Park in Keaukaha. Also named in the suit is the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which provided Malama O Puna a $40,000 grant to eradicate the mangroves.

Malama O Puna’s website calls the species “aggressive aliens that replace coral pool and other coastal habitats, shading out coral, dropping large amounts of organic matter, and resulting in muck-filled pools with little diversity.”

Singer’s lawsuit contends that that the removal of mangroves will have the opposite effect, harm both native and exotic fish, reduce shoreline protection from storm surge and tsunamis, and cause “irrevocable harm to the environment.”

The suit is still in litigation. Continue reading ‘Scientists: Mangroves threaten environment’

Ulupalakua Cares set for Sept. 5

Published on August 27, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.

ULUPALAKUA – Ulupalakua Cares, a celebration of agriculture and open space hosted by Maui’s Winery and Ulupalakua Ranch Store, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 5.

This free community event will have local music, walking tours by environmental leaders and informational exhibits by local conservation groups, set against a backdrop of the winery’s historic grounds and the ranch’s pastoral beauty.

Ukulele virtuoso Derick Sebastian and singer/musician Joshua Kahula will play from noon to 3 p.m. Polihua, a Lanai band, will play from 3 to 4, both at the winery.

Across the road at the ranch store, Bradda Francis Koahou will play slack key from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

At 12:30 p.m., a talk titled “A Voyage Back in Time: The Natural Treasures of Ulupalakua Ranch” will be given by Art Medeiros, a research scientist with the Pacific Island Ecosystem Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey and the head of the Auwahi reforestation project, on Ulupalakua Ranch land.

The 150-year-old trees of Maui’s Winery will be showcased on a “Walking Tour of Trees” led by Ernest Rezents, professor emeritus of agriculture at Maui Community College. He will give a talk on “How to Determine the Value of a Tree.” The walk and talk will be from 2 to 2:30 p.m. Continue reading ‘Ulupalakua Cares set for Sept. 5’

Brown tree snake detection workshop offered

Published on August 24, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

WAILUKU – Bring a flashlight to a workshop on Wednesday arranged to teach residents how to locate the invasive brown tree snake, which has overwhelmed parts of Guam.

Mayor Charmaine Tavares’ office, the state Department of Agriculture and Division of Forestry and Wildlife along with the Maui Invasive Species Committee are hosting the free event from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Kahului Community Center annex, at 275 Uhu St.

Live snakes and other prohibited species will be on display, and participants are asked to bring a flashlight for use in a snake-detection exercise that uses dummy snakes.

The session also will provide information about the snakes, including their biology and behavior and why people should be concerned about their possible introduction here. A key part of the meeting will involve what to do and whom to contact if a snake were sighted. Continue reading ‘Brown tree snake detection workshop offered’

Coral reefs, invasive species on meeting agenda

Published on August 4, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.

Scholars, environmentalists and government officials are due to discuss issues like protecting coral reefs and controlling invasive species at the Hawaii Conservation Conference this week.

The three day meeting begins Wednesday at the Hawaii Convention Center.

The Hawaii Conservation Alliance says this year’s meeting is due to highlight conservation management success stories from Hawaii, New Zealand, Micronesia, and other Pacific islands.

American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono is due to deliver the keynote address on Friday.

Coral reefs, invasive species on meeting agenda – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

Manoa’s elusive, night-shrieking coqui frog finally bagged | The Honolulu Advertiser

Published on March 17, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

It took a lot of trying, but the lone Mānoa coqui frog has been captured.

The presence of the coqui, known for its piercing, loud shrieks, had dismayed residents of Melemele Place, a quiet dead-end road on the east side of Mānoa Valley. Neighbors went out on many nights trying to catch the frog, which is about the size of a quarter (typical for the species).

The problem was every time residents went looking for it, their flashlights would scare the frog into silence.

"I would hear it and go out there and it would stop, so I would turn off my flashlight and just wait in the dark," said Laka Preis Carpenter, who lives on that street and went on several frog-hunting missions.

The recent cold and windy weather also foiled the hunt. Department of Agriculture inspectors went out to the area to hunt for the frog two weeks ago in less than optimal weather, but were unsuccessful.

Continue reading ‘Manoa’s elusive, night-shrieking coqui frog finally bagged | The Honolulu Advertiser’

Hawaii County to sell off coqui-control equipment as invasive species mutates | honoluluadvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

Published on March 5, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.

HILO — As it dismantles the last vestiges of its coqui-control program, Hawaii County plans to sell off the equipment some community groups say is essential to their voluntary eradication efforts.

The move comes just as scientists say the county’s coqui population is maturing into much larger frogs. Where once they were described as the size of quarters, a coqui was recently reported the size of a tennis ball, said Mark Munekata of the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board.

"The coquis don’t have any budget cuts," Munekata said, adding that the frogs seem to rapidly adapt to Hawaii conditions. "Once you think you understand them, they do something else and throw you for a loop."

Continue reading ‘Hawaii County to sell off coqui-control equipment as invasive species mutates | honoluluadvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser’

KIA‘I MOKU: New technology pivotal amid fight against invasive weeds – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News

Published on February 14, 2010 in Agricultural Equipment, Farm Machinery, General Ag News and Notes and Invasive Species.

Invasive-weed infestations within Maui County are literally a growing problem. Despite the tough economic recession, invasive species prevention and mitigation programs remain a necessity for conserving our natural and agricultural resources. We need to look back only a few months ago to remember the show of local support for our Hawaii Department of Agriculture inspectors. While some positions were retained, Maui still must deal with the losses of important HDOA positions. Despite these setbacks, our local ranchers and natural area managers remain steadfast to continue the fight against these detrimental weed infestations, simply out of necessity.

Continue reading ‘KIA‘I MOKU: New technology pivotal amid fight against invasive weeds – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News’