Category: Coffee Leaf Rust

May 21, 2021 Coffee Leaf Rust, General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

EPA approves fungicide for coffee leaf rust

The Maui News –

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow Hawaii coffee growers to use a fungicide to fight coffee leaf rust, a devastating pathogen found on Maui, Lanai, Hawaii island and Oahu.

The state Department of Agriculture was notified Wednesday that the EPA had approved its request for farmers to use Priaxor Xemium, a fungicide not currently labeled by the EPA for specific use on coffee plants but allowed for controlling fungi on leafy vegetables, strawberries, tomatoes, soybeans, wheat and other crops. In March, the department filed a request for an exemption to use the fungicide on coffee plants. The emergency exemption approval will allow the fungicide to be used for up to one year or until use on coffee plants is added to the product label by EPA and the fungicide’s producer.

Coffee leaf rust was first detected on Maui and Hawaii island in October and on Oahu and Lanai in January, leading the board to restrict the movement of coffee plants from these islands.

“Hawaii coffee growers now have an added method to combat the coffee leaf rust, which is extremely difficult to manage,” said Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture. “Other efforts to minimize the damage and spread of coffee leaf rust include quarantines on the movement of coffee plants and associated material, the import of disease-resistant coffee plants and the development of integrated pest management strategies.”

Under the emergency exemption, coffee growers must:

• Inform the state Department of Agriculture Pesticides Branch at least seven days prior to using Priaxor Xemium by emailing hdoa.sec18@hawaii .gov.

• Wear personal protective equipment as required by the label.

• Follow all directions on both the container label as well as the dealer-provided Section 18 label.

• Report all use/application to the Pesticides Branch within 10 days of application.

For more information, Maui County growers can call Mitchell MacCluer of the Pesticides Branch at (808) 873-3078.

Two webinars on the use of the fungicide are being planned in June.

For more information on coffee leaf rust and the coffee industry, visit www.hawaiicoffeeed.com or hdoa.hawaii.gov/ pi/files/2021/01/NPA-20-03-Coffee-leaf-rust1-21.pdf.

March 30, 2021 Coffee Leaf Rust, General Ag News and Notes, Webinar Post a Comment

Webinars Scheduled For Coffee Growers On Possible Fungicide Use

State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture

Two free webinars have been scheduled in April to help inform Hawai`i coffee growers on the potential use of a fungicide to combat the coffee leaf rust (CLR). Earlier this month, the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) filed a request for emergency exemption with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow the use of a fungicide, Priaxor® Xemium, on coffee plants in Hawai`i. The fungicide is approved for use on other agricultural crops, but EPA approval is needed to allow its use specifically on coffee plants.

In anticipation that EPA may approve the request by the end of April, the University of Hawai`i – College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH-CTAHR) and HDOA will be hosting two Zoom webinars to help educate coffee growers on the safe use of the fungicide.

The webinars have been scheduled for:

  • Thursday, April 1st and Thursday, April 8th from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
  • Registration is required and may be completed at: HawaiiCoffeeEd.com/priaxor
  • Webinars are free.
  • For more information on the Zoom webinars, contact UH-CTAHR Associate Extension Agent Andrea Kawabata at andreak@hawaii.edu or call (808) 322-0164

Hawai`i researchers believe that if approved by EPA and used properly, Priaxor has the ability to inhibit the CLR spore germination and growth on the coffee plant leaves, unlike currently approved contact fungicides that kill CLR spores on the outside of the leaf.

CLR has been detected on Maui, Hawai`i Island, Lana`i and O`ahu and is a serious threat to the state’s $56 million coffee industry.

CLR is a devastating coffee pathogen and was first discovered in Sri Lanka in 1869 and can cause severe defoliation of coffee plants resulting in greatly reduced photosynthetic capacity. Depending on CLR prevalence in a given year, both vegetative and berry growth are greatly reduced. There are multiple long-term impacts of CLR, including dieback, resulting in an impact to the following year’s crop, with estimated losses ranging from 30 percent to 80 percent.

For more information on CLR and the Hawai`i coffee industry, go to:

  • Coffee Education Website – UH-CTAHR: https://www.HawaiiCoffeeEd.com/
  • HDOA Coffee Leaf Rust Advisory: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/files/2021/01/NPA-20-03-Coffee-leaf-rust1-21.pdf
  • CLR Field Guide: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/files/2020/12/CLR-Public-field-guide-with-form11-20.pdf
  • 2020-2021 Hawai`i Coffee Season Statistics (National Agricultural Statistics Service): https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Hawaii/Publications/Fruits_and_Nuts/Coffee-01-26-2021.pdf
December 18, 2020 beekeeping, Coffee Leaf Rust, CTAHR, Gardening, General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

CTAHR Mid-December 2020 Events & Announcements

View Completer CTAHR Newsletter in your Browser

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UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension Offices will be closed on the following day:
Friday, December 25th, in observance of Christmas
Friday, January 1st, in observance of New Year’s day

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TODAY! 12/18 @ 2:30 pm – Maintaining Soil Health While Treating for Coffee Leaf Rust
From: Joan Obra
Vice President: United Ka’u Farmers Cooperative
Partner: Rusty’s Hawaiian and Isla Custom Coffees

RE: Zoom Meeting on Soil Health
Date and Time: Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, at 2:30 pm.

Since the arrival of Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) in Hawaii, farmers have been told that maintaining healthy trees is key to fighting this pest. But tree health depends on soil health — and the copper-based fungicides for CLR pose certain challenges to our soils.

What’s a farmer to do? Join us for this Zoom webinar to discover good-management practices for copper fungicide use. You’ll hear a review of scientific literature about these fungicides and their residual effects. And you’ll learn about SOLVITA soil-respiration test kits, a tool that measures chemical and biological soil parameters. Your instructor is Dr. Melanie Willich, The Kohala Center’s Director of Applied ʻĀina-Based Agriculture.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsdeGtpjksHdfoVQpeR4ZEmnxOVcxCPHr0

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thank you,
Joan

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Dr. DeFrank’s Air Layer Workshop Recording
Dr. DeFrank provided the Waimanalo Farm Crew with a hands-on air layer workshop on 12/10/20 and has provided a URL link below to 2 videos (classroom and hands-on training) and pdf of slides that details this air layer method and includes sources for various materials used. The mango and guava at the Waimanalo Station were at the perfect stage for air layering and the same may be true for your locations. He has been successful with mango, guava, cacao, longan and native Koa root suckers.

Air layer hands-on workshop at Waimanalo on 12/10/20:
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/defrankj/NON_HOMEPAGE_PAGES/Air_layer_UH_Farm_121121020.htm

Dr. Joe DeFrank
Ph: 808-225-1765
email: defrenk@hawaii.edu

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Kau Coffee Virtual Festival and Coffee College Webinars
Visit https://www.kaucoffeefestival.com for all festival activities. These events will take place the weeks of Dec. 21 and Dec. 28.

The Coffee College presentations are being organized and additional information will be available at the link above.

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Intro to Beekeeping Virtual Workshop – Saturday, January 16th, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Interested in learning about beekeeping or know of someone that might but does not know where to start? NOW is the time of year to begin planning and becoming prepared looking forward to the upcoming beekeeping season! The California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBp) OC Bee Team will be offering VIRTUAL Beekeeping Classes throughout 2021.

The first of the series of SEVEN knowledge building science-based beekeeping classes, presented by the California Master Beekeeper Program OC Bee Team, is Beekeeping 001 Exploring Beekeeping beginning on January 16th. Follow the CAMBp website cambp.ucdavis.edu as new classes in this series will be listed.

BONUS: a 10% discount will be applied to individuals who sign up for the entire series!

Register: for this class https://registration.ucdavis.edu/Item/Details/694

More information at: https://cambp.ucdavis.edu/

Questions? Email: camasterbee@gmail.com

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ADSC Holiday Schedule
Aloha,

The Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center will be operating with a skeleton crew from Monday, December 21st through Thursday, December 31st. Analysis results that are normally available within 7-10 working days will be slightly delayed. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Happy Holidays from the Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center!

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Coffee Samples for UH ADSC Submission
Per Hawaii County Administrator, Susan Miyasaka, NO coffee plant samples NOR soil from coffee farms will be shipped to UH Manoa ADSC [for diagnostics] – there is an inter-island quarantine.

Please contact UH Hilo to submit coffee leaf and soil samples.
https://hilo.hawaii.edu/analab/

For nematode, disease and insect IDs from coffee farms, and other questions or concerns, please contact Susan at (808)969-8258 or miyasaka@hawaii.edu.

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Mahalo – 1215 Virtual Invasive Pest Mini-Conference
Aloha,

Thank you for attending 1215 Virtual Invasive Pest Mini-Conference 2020. It’s my pleasure to have you all in this meeting with some valuable talks on current invasive pest concerns, rapid responses and management efforts, and status updates/ new detections. Special thanks to the speakers – Teya Penniman, JB Friday, Kaili Kosaka, Koki Atcheson, Jane Anderson, Nate Dube, and Kevin Hoffman.

Here is the link to the mini-conference video https://vimeo.com/491793219/c913595d6b just in case if you have missed this meeting. A chat note is also attached.

Announcement – Save a date for 02182021 Virtual Invasive Pest Mini-Conference on Feb 18 (Thursday), 2021. Please let me know if you are interested to give a talk in the 0218 Mini-Conference.

Wishing you a wonderful New Year!!

Sincerely,

Roshan

November 12, 2020 Coffee Leaf Rust, General Ag News and Notes, Plant Pests and Diseases, Webinar Post a Comment

Coffee Leaf Rust Webinar

JOIN US FOR A LIVE
Coffee Leaf Rust Webinar
Thursday, November 19, 2020

This webinar is provided as a free resource for our association members and the broader community. It is designed to provide important updates on the Coffee Leaf Rust disease recently discovered in Hawaii. The webinar will consist of two sessions and have a Q&A session at the end of each.

The webinar will have two sessions. Please see the schedule below and register for each session individually.

IMPORTANT: Please ensure you are notifying all farm staff, including seasonal pickers who may work on multiple farms, of new sanitation protocol to mitigate the spread of this fungus. We also encourage you to share this webinar information with your farm staff.

Webinar Schedule
Thursday, November 19

9:00-10:30am
Short Term Strategies
with Jacques Avelino of CIRAD* and Andrea Kawabata of University of Hawaii CTAHR

Jacques will discuss the biology of the causal agent of coffee leaf rust: the fungus Hemileia vastatrix and some epidemiological considerations. He will explain how meteorological variables, topography, coffee tree characteristics, natural enemies and management, particularly nutrition and shade, affect coffee rust development. This knowledge can be used to improve coffee rust management at farm and regional levels.

Andrea will provide updated information on approved fungicides for coffee in Hawai’i to help combat Coffee Leaf Rust, including application protocol. She will also cover necessary general farm practices, hygiene, and sanitation protocol that producers should be implementing on their farms immediately to avoid spreading CLR spores.

*CIRAD is the French agricultural research and international cooperation organization working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions.

Register for the Short Term Strategy Session

11:30-1pm
Research, Resources & Regulation
with Kevin Hoffman of HDOA and Lisa Keith of USDA and PBARC

Kevin will provide an update to attendees on the most current information available to HDOA including new quarantine restrictions.

Lisa will focus on the pathology of coffee leaf rust in Hawaii, including what we know, what we don’t know, and short and long term research efforts to manage CLR in Hawaii.

Register for the Research, Resources & Regulation Session

November 10, 2020 Coffee Leaf Rust, General Ag News and Notes, Plant Pests and Diseases Post a Comment

COFFEE LEAF RUST CONFIRMED ON HAWAI`I ISLAND

State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture

HONOLULU – Coffee leaf rust (CLR) has been confirmed on coffee plants on Hawai`i Island by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Identification Services. The samples were collected by a grower on a farm in the Holualoa area, south of Kailua-Kona, on Hawai`i Island on October 31, 2020. Samples from Hilo, mentioned in an earlier news release, were negative for CLR. Earlier in October, CLR was detected and confirmed in the Haiku area of Maui. CLR has not been detected on other islands.

CLR is one of the most devastating pests of coffee plants and is established in all major coffee-growing areas of the world, but had not previously been found in Hawai`i prior to its recent discovery on Maui and Hawai`i Island.

“Coffee is one of Hawai`i’s signature crops, of which production was estimated to be $54.3 million in 2019,” said Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairperson of the Hawai`i Board of Agriculture. “As surveys continue across the state, the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture is preparing to establish interim rules that will hopefully prevent the spread of the fungus to uninfested islands.”

The Hawai`i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) Advisory Committee on Plant and Animals has scheduled a meeting on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. to consider an interim rule to restrict the movement of coffee plants and coffee plant material from islands found to have CLR to islands on which the fungus has not been detected. Information on the meeting via Zoom is available at: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/blog/main/pqmtgs/.

CLR can cause severe defoliation of coffee plants. Infected leaves drop prematurely, greatly reducing the plant’s photosynthetic capacity. Vegetative and berry growth are reduced depending on the intensity of rust in the current year. Long-term effects of rust may include dieback, which can have a significant impact on the following year’s yield, with some researchers estimating losses between 30 percent and 80 percent.

The first observable symptoms are yellow-orange rust spots, appearing on the upper surface of leaves. On the underside of the leaves, infectious spores appear resembling a patch of yellow- to dark orange-colored powder. These young lesions steadily increase in size with the center of the lesion turning necrotic and brown, with the infection eventually progressing up the tree. CLR may also infect young stems and berries.

HDOA’s Plant Pest Control Branch has prepared a field guide to aid in the detection and reporting of possible CLR infections. The field guide maybe found at: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/ppc/new-pest-advisories/

While there are fungicides that may be used to help control the fungus, one of the key factors to any pest management program is good sanitation practices. Regular pruning and training of the coffee tree helps to prevent over-cropping and maintain a healthy field. These practices help to improve air circulation and also to open up the canopy to allow proper fungicide spray coverage. Good weed control is an important factor as it keeps competition for vital nutrients low, thereby reducing the susceptibility to the rust.

CLR, Hemileia vastatrix, was first discovered in Sri Lanka in 1869 and is now found in the major coffee-growing regions of the world, including Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.

Hawai`i has strict importation rules requiring all imported green coffee beans for roasting and associated packing materials be fumigated prior to entering the state to ensure beans are free of pathogens and insect pests. These rules also subject coffee plants and propagative plant parts to strict quarantine requirements if imported to Hawai`i, including a quarantine on all imported coffee plants for a minimum of one year in a state-run quarantine facility.

To report possible coffee leaf rust infestations on any island, call HDOA’s Plant Pest Control Branch at (808) 973-9525.

For more information on coffee leaf rust go to the UH-CTAHR webpages at:

https://www.hawaiicoffeeed.com/clr.html
http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/crop/Type/h_vasta.htm

Or, the HDOA Field Guide at: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/ppc/new-pest-advisories/