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Agriculture

Bees Against Beetles

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Bees Against Beetles

A species called the small hive beetle has been found bunking with Molokai bees. The invasive beetle – destructive to bees – is prevalent on Hawaii Island and Oahu, and has now been discovered on Molokai and Maui.

The beetles, about four to five millimeters in length, tunnel into the hive, feeding on honey and wax as they go, and lay their eggs inside. In strong, healthy bee colonies, the bees will chase out the beetles before they can lay eggs. But if the bees can’t get rid of them, the beetles can wreak havoc on the hive, causing the honey to ferment, according to Hawaii Department of Agriculture (DOA) bee specialist Danielle Downey.

In a worst case scenario, “a beekeeper will come back to a big slimy mess and no bees,” said Downey. On Molokai, however, the beetles have been seen only in low levels, and “don’t appear to be doing damage,” she added.

East end Molokai resident Brenda Kaneshiro and her family are the island’s only resident commercial beekeepers. They first discovered the presence of the beetle in one of their hives in May, and immediately contacted Downey.

beetle than a hive,” said Downey.

She said a key to minimizing the appearance of the beetle is good hive management – keeping the colony strong through drought control, nutrition and other means.

Jennifer Hawkins, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Molokai junior extension agent, said she will also be conducting a beekeeping workshop for homesteaders on Molokai.

The orientation for the homestead beekeeping class will be in September, and classes will run once a week beginning in October. The class will be the first in the state to pilot a beekeeping education program developed by UH, said Hawkins. A future class will be opened up to other Molokai residents if there is interest. For more information about the class, contact Hawkins at 567-6935.

Hawkins said honey bee populations are starting to decline because of diseases such as the varilla mite and the small hive bee. To keep Molokai as free as possible of such pests, she said no bees are being brought into Molokai and instead, specialists are working to “nurture bees we have here already.”

“We wanted to be proactive because we don’t have the same issues as other islands,” she said.

She added that Molokai has a large population of native bees that seem to be particularly disease resistant, a species specialists will begin study in depth later this year.

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Stop the Bunchy Top

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Stop the Bunchy Top

Community contributed by Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent

Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) has again reared its ugly head in Ho`olehua. Named after its characteristic choking or bunching of the leaves at the top of the plant, BBTV is the most destructive disease in bananas. Other disease symptoms include a dwarfing of the plants with skinny leaves having yellow or burnt leaf edges bunched together. On the lower portion of the leaves, there are dark green streaks on the mid ribs and also dots and dashes that look like Morse code. The Morse code will move down the mid rib at the attachment to the plant. Fruits are usually stunted, twisted, and distorted.

The hot spots include the new subdivision near Lanikeha, upwind from where it was originally found several years ago, and also around Kualapu`u town. To date, this disease has been confined only to Kualapu`u and Hoolehua. Ginger and heliconia, relatives of banana, are known hosts of this disease but we haven’t seen any diseased plants on Molokai.

The virus is spread by the banana aphid. Just by feeding on an infected plant for 18 hours, the aphid can spread this disease for two weeks. By feeding on a new plant for just two hours, the plant can be infected. Banana plants downwind from the hot spots are especially susceptible to new infections since aphids are not good fliers and will usually float in the wind, with the exception of winged types, called alates, which are usually rare.

The banana variety Chinese or Dwarf Cavendish banana is the most susceptible to this disease. Dwarf Brazilian or Dwarf Apple Banana is more tolerant to it. If you suspect BBTV infected plants in your yard or homestead, do not handle or move the plants. Viruses are systemic; once one plant in a mat is infected, it infects all the plants connected to it. If left untreated, it’s only a matter of time before all the plants in that specific area are infected. The key to controlling the disease is by controlling the banana aphid.

All plants near the infected plant must be treated with insecticides to control the aphid and prevent it from moving from infected to healthy plants. Only after plants are treated can they be moved and destroyed. Complete removal is essential, including killing all plant parts through the use of an herbicide. Treating symptomless plants with insecticides near the hot spot is vital to stop the spread of the disease.  If regrowth occurs from the diseased area, these plants will also have to be treated and destroyed since they still carry the disease.

There is a quarantine prohibiting the movement of banana plants and plant parts, except fruit, from Oahu to all neighbor islands have been imposed. It is only through the vigilance of the community that we’ve been able to keep this disease out of Molokai for so long. For more information on BBTV, check out the UH CTAHR website. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/CFS-BAN-4A.pdf
If you suspect your trees may have the disease call Molokai/Maui Invasive Species Committee at (808) 553-5236 ext. 6585 or (808) 336-0625.

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Monsanto Molokai Earns ‘Top Safety’ Award

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Monsanto Molokai Earns ‘Top Safety’ AwardMonsanto Hawaii’s Molokai farm received the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA (OSHA) top safety designation, the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star.

 In Hawaii, the VPP is also known as “Hana Po’okela” (excellent work), and is administered by the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations under OSHA.

 The program recognizes employers who meet exemplary standards in workplace safety and health. Nationally, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of companies accomplishes a Voluntary Protection Program.

 Monsanto is the first company on Molokai to become a VPP Star site, and the only agricultural company in the state with a VPP certification. Monsanto Hawaii’s Maui operations received its VPP designation in 2006.

 “Gaining the VPP certification is an extremely rigorous and lengthy process that requires everyone to be thoroughly committed to safety in the workplace,” said Ray Foster, Monsanto Molokai’s farm manager. “It’s not easy to become a VPP Star, so I commend all of our employees for this exceptional achievement.”

 Achieving the VPP Star designation is a multi-year effort, involving an extensive series of safety audits, inspections, employee training programs, meticulous record-keeping, trends analysis, improvements to the workplace and visits by OSHA inspectors.

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4-H Farmers Boast Their Best

Monday, July 11th, 2011

4-H Farmers Boast Their Best

Lights flooded the Kaunakakai Ball Park last Friday night, with fans filling stadium seats ready to cheer the keiki on the field. But there were no strikes or homeruns during this performance – only “moos” and “oinks.”

 More than 30 youth involved in the Molokai 4-H Livestock Club showed off the animals they’ve raised within the last six months at the annual Livestock Expo last weekend  – a Molokai tradition participants say has been carried on for generations.

“The kids learn a lot… It teaches them all about being sustainable through backyard-raising animals,” said rancher Jimmy Duvauchelle, who served as emcee and whose children, grand-children and great-grandchildren have participated. “Molokai, we don’t got much, but we got plenty backyards.”

Junior and senior participants, ages 9 through 19, were judged with their steers and hogs Friday night. Participants scored in two categories: market, which judged the livestock’s marketability, and showmanship, which was based on keiki’s ability to display animals to the judge.

Six contestants showed hogs, herding them around a circular pen on the field’s diamond. 4-H volunteers followed with spray bottles, squirting the swine to keep them cool. Giggles erupted from young audience members when a hog snorted or made a dash across the dirt.

Jill Eguires, a former 4-H member from Oahu, judged the competition, awarding Rex Kamakana Jr. first place in the market competition for his swine, named Pork Chop. Acey Reyes placed first for her showmanship of Fat Pig.

learn that if you put up so much money, you make a profit. And if you don’t, don’t do it that way again,” Helm laughed.

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More Grants for Farmers

Monday, July 4th, 2011

U.S. Department of Agriculture News Release

Local, independent agriculture producers, farmers and ranchers, as well as cooperatives, are encouraged to apply for economic assistance grants through the Value-Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG).

VAPGs may be used for feasibility studies or business plans, marketing value-added agricultural products and for farm-based renewable energy projects. Value-added products are created when a producer increases the consumer value of an agricultural commodity in the production or processing stage.

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Small Farms Get Support

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

U.S. Department of Agriculture News Release

Small farms and agri-business are supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by their Small Business Innovation Grant Program. The department, in collaboration with the local University of Hawaii (UH) Ag program, will be hosting an informational meeting June 27 at 9 a.m., at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs conference room at Kulana `Oiwi. Dr. Suresh Sivapathasun will be the guest speaker.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program at the USDA makes competitively awarded grants to qualified small businesses to support high quality, advanced concepts research related to important scientific problems and opportunities in agriculture that could lead to significant public benefit if successful.

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Law of the Minimum

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Law of the Minimum

Community contributed by Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent

A basic law in farming states that it only takes one missing element to limit the growth of plants, even if all other elements are in abundance. Called the Law of the Minimum, plants will only grow to the potential of the most limiting element.  There are over 17 essential elements vital to plant growth, and each one must be available in the proper amount in relation to plant needs. Many of these elements can be found in our soil and available to the plant, while others must be added for optimal plant growth.


We have over 140 soil types in Hawaii, more than any place in the world, and each soil is a little different: from the sandy coastal soils to the young lava soils of Mauna Kea. The composition of our soil is based on age, rainfall, soil particle size and parent material. Annual rainfall statewide can range from a few inches to over 400 inches, and older, more eroded soils and those in high rainfall areas are usually more weathered, and lack certain nutrients, including potassium, calcium and magnesium. Ho`olehua soil is highly weathered, so calcium and magnesium are in short supply and must be added, but there’s usually adequate potassium, the last number on the fertilizer bag, because the parent material has lots of it.


Phosphorus, the middle number on the fertilizer bag, is another limiting nutrient and is why many use 10-30-10 as a pre-plant fertilizer. The availability of phosphorus can also be affected by soil pH, the level of acidity or alkalinity of a soil. The soil pH should range from 5.5 to 6.5 for most crops. If the pH is too low or acidic, phosphorus will be locked up in the soil structure and is not be available to the plant. Also, compounds such as aluminum and manganese are at toxic levels in low pH soil, and can kill plant roots. However, a few plants prefer acid soils, including sweet potato, gardenia, azalea, camellia, and tea. The red color of the Ho`olehua soil is due to high iron, but is in a form that’s not available to plants.


In areas of very low rainfall, such as Kalamaula, the soil is rich and probably needs little in the way of additional nutrients. In all soils, we usually assume nitrogen is lacking and should always be added. Horse, pig, poultry and cattle manure are good sources of nitrogen fertilizer, but should be aged and not fresh. Old-time farmers use to make manure teas, manure mixed with water, and fed plants small amounts at each watering to grow beautiful crops of lettuce and other leafy vegetables, for example. If your soil is low in certain nutrients, the veggies you eat from that ground will also be low in those same nutrients.


Growers need to know what’s missing in their soil, and one way is by collecting a soil sample. To take a soil sample, take handfuls of soil from a depth of 2-4 inches from many spots on your lot or garden and mix it together in a bucket. Remove about two cups and put it in a sturdy plastic bag. Bring it to our office between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and be sure to fill out soil sample forms. There’s a $12 fee for each sample and a check is preferred. We’re located next to the Ho`olehua Post Office. With the high cost of fertilizer, it pays dividends to know exactly what’s missing in your soil and how to correct. And gardening without a soil sample is like baking a cake without a recipe.                        

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Feathers of the Rainbow

Monday, June 20th, 2011

Feathers of the Rainbow

There’s no place like home – especially if you’re a pigeon. Molokai Rainbows, Clay Adachi’s business of releasing multi-colored pigeons for events around Molokai, brings smiles to awed onlookers as the birds swirl in unison overhead before heading straight home to their roomy pens in Adachi’s backyard.

“Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, they all come home,” he said.

Referred to as homing pigeons, racing pigeons (a sport practiced around the world) and carrier pigeons, the species have been used for thousands of years to carry messages hundreds of miles before mail service or the Internet. While the navigation methods pigeons use are highly debated, many scientists believe the birds use the earth’s magnetic field to find their way. Adachi’s birds can fly home all the way from Maui, where he occasionally releases them for training.

Raising birds has been a lifelong passion for Adachi. He developed a special fondness for white pigeons after he was given a pair when he was young. Now, he owns about 150 birds, something he got back into, he said, more than 15 years ago. After that, “I figured I’d rent them out to pay for their own feed,” Adachi explained.

A Day in the Life

He keeps the food coloring mixtures in mayonnaise jars in the fridge, and warms it up before pouring the liquid into a small pan.

“I dip the birds right in and throw them up on the roof to dry,” he chuckled.

It’s important that the dye can dry completely before Adachi puts the pigeons in their boxes to transport for release. If the food coloring is still wet, it will rub onto other birds for some unplanned rainbow colors.

The food coloring is harmless to the health of the birds, though it does pose one challenge: they can’t fly in the rain. The dye, Adachi explained, absorbs water so it inhibits the birds’ ability to fly under wet conditions because their feathers don’t repel water as well.

He began dying the birds’ wings years ago as a way to identify them. That’s how he got the idea to color some of the birds for various occasions – like using red, white and blue birds for veterans’ events.

Events
Larry Helm, commander of Veterans Caring for Veterans, said releasing the patriotic-themed pigeons at veterans’ events is a way of “respecting the veterans to the max.”

“Veterans feel special that they can light up sky with all these colored pigeons in honor of those who have served,” said Helm. “The response has always been ‘wow.’”

Adachi, an Air Force veteran himself, said he’s been releasing birds for the veterans for years, free of charge.

Normally, his rates vary with location, from $75 around Kaunakakai, up to $200 on the island’s east and west ends, according to Adachi.

He flies the Molokai Rainbows at birthdays, weddings, funerals – “anything and everything.” He said he gets a lot of inquiries, and one comes through every couple of months. Since the birds can’t fly in the rain, Adachi said he has to play it by ear, and can offer refunds if the weather falls through.

“We’d love to grow this into more of a business,” Diane Adachi said.

If you’d like to book Molokai Rainbows to add a special touch to your next event, call Adachi at 553-5580 or email dcmolokai@hotmail.com.

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Hawaii’s One-sided Love Affair with GMOs

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

Community Contributed

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Talking Tomatoes

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Talking Tomatoes

Community Contributed by Glenn Teves, UH County Extension Agent

Tomato has more than its share of pests – starting with leaf miners, they are small fly maggots that feed between the upper and lower layer of the leaf, making meandering lines that are more cosmetic than damaging. Predacious wasps will control it, but spraying with a broad spectrum pesticide will kill the good guys and flare up the leaf miners to the point where they can knock out most of the lower leaves.  

Russet mites are microscopic and look like a teardrop. They cause a bronzing of the stem and will slowly progress up the stem, turning the lower leaves yellow. At first indication, spraying with sulfur can easily control it. Sulfur will also control red spider mites which can be especially troublesome in wind protected areas. They cause a cupping of the leaf, and yellow specks on the leaves, and occur on the undersides of leaves.

The corn earworm, also called the tomato fruit worm, can cause major damage by making large holes in fruits, especially if corn is grown nearby. Spraying with Dipel and other compounds containing Bacillus thurengiensis, a naturally occurring fungus, at the first sign of them will control them.

The tomato pinworm will lay its eggs at the base of the calyx attached to the stem end of the fruit, and will burrow into the fruit, rotting them. It is difficult to control, even with pesticides, and tomato producers use pheromone twisters placed near plants. These twisters contain hormones synthesized from the female pinworm, and will overwhelm the male pinworm to the point where they can’t find the female pinworm, disrupting mating activities.

Female fruit flies, especially the melon fly, are a major problem because they lay their eggs in the fruit, which rot fruits. The use of GF120, a natural occurring pesticide created from a fungus, Spinosad, mixed with a yeast-based attractant will control fruit flies. Sprayed on nearby trap crops/windbreaks such as in concentrated spots, fruit flies are attracted to the yeast compounds and killed when they come in contact with this toxin. All of these pest control methods are considered organic and low impact on the environment and non-target organisms.

In choosing the right variety of tomato to grow, find one with at least resistance to root-knot nematodes, including large-fruited bush types Celebrity, Anahu, Healani, Kewalo, Empire, Sanibel, First Blush, Quali-T23, Mountain Fresh Plus, and others. For romas, Puebla, Sunoma, Yaqui, Huichol, Hybrid 882, Cordova, Super Marzano, and Hybrid 46 are resistant. Resistant grape and cherries include Sweet Chelsea, Sweet Million, Sweet Quartz, Small Fry, Apero, Favorita, Red Grape, Golden Sweet, Sugary, Jolly, and Chiquita. Bush types are more wind tolerant and a good choice for the home garden, but it’s also good to have a few indeterminate cherry or grape types growing in the corner of your garden for a steady supply of little tomatoes.  

To order seed packets of UH varieties Healani, Anahu, and Kewalo and other vegetable seed, you can download an order form from UH at www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/

 

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