KAILUA-KONA — Lawmakers announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Hawaii $3.1 million in funding to combat invasive species across the state.
KAILUA-KONA — Lawmakers announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Hawaii $3.1 million in funding to combat invasive species across the state.
The money will be split between USDA researchers in Hawaii, the University of Hawaii, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. It will be spread across research and education efforts involving the coconut rhinoceros beetle, fruit flies, the coffee berry borer, little fire ants, Rapid Ohia Death and other invasive concerns.
“Hawaii is on the front line in addressing invasive pests, and early detection is critical to protecting our agriculture and environment,” Sen. Mazie Hirono said in a press release. “This funding will advance critical programs that help farmers and land managers address invasive species, as well efforts to keep these pests from spreading to other communities.”
Darcy Oishi, biocontrol section chief with the Department of Agriculture, said that beyond recommendations, the state has little influence over how federal money is allocated to various concerns in Hawaii. Disbursement generally reflects the USDA’s priorities relative to funding requests originating in the state.
He added that based on a brief review of the report, a couple of general trends readily emerged. One in particular was a push toward genetic work involving pathway analysis.
“Genetic analysis is used to determine pathways based on analyzing the genome of a pest to determine where it came from,” Oishi explained. “The USDA is interested in this to reduce cost and improve invasive species coverage across the board.”
The idea behind the genetic approach is if researchers learn where a pest originated, they can put up roadblocks on likely routes between where it came from and where it is currently presenting.
More than $560,000 of the $3.1 million coming to Hawaii will be used to examine genomic approaches to Hawaii’s issues with fruit flies, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
The bulk of resources made available to Hawaii will address concerns over fruit flies and the coconut rhinoceros beetle, both of which represent considerable threats to crop production locally and abroad.
Oishi said fruit flies are of particular interest to the USDA, as they impact all U.S. agricultural production “profoundly.”
But, at more than $1.2 million, response efforts to the coconut rhinoceros beetle actually garnered the greatest amount of federal funding.
The beetle has been known to attack all agricultural products related to palm, meaning everything from taro to sugar cane to bananas are potentially threatened by its presence.
Franny Brewer, communication director for the Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC), said the beetle has to date only made itself known in Oahu, and that the importance of keeping it from spreading to outer islands was likely a primary factor in the amount of funds that efforts to combat its proliferation procured.
Despite the money the beetle demanded, Oishi said the amount allocated actually fell considerably short of the amount requested.
He said more than 600 applications nationwide were submitted to the USDA, all hoping to get a piece of the $70 million pot budgeted for fights against invasive species. The sizable demand across the country for federal dollars to aid in such fights might explain why monies addressing concerns specific to Hawaii Island were more sparse.
Endeavors to educate plant nurseries across the state on Little Fire Ants (LFA), which have been documented on Kauai, Maui, Oahu and Hawaii Island, received only $42,090.
The pest is believed to have been eradicated on Kauai, but is so pervasive on Hawaii Island that it is no longer even a target for eradication. Instead, Brewer said, BIISC now merely hopes to control LFA populations via educational efforts and voucher programs.
State response to Rapid Ohia Death, which has not been reported anywhere except the Big Island, was allocated $120,000 by the USDA on Tuesday.
The coffee berry borer, however, which has been the bane of the Kona coffee belt for several years, commanded $340,000 across various efforts to establish a systems approach to the problem. A state subsidy program to help Big Island farmers manage the pest came online less than two months ago.