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Bunch Back Against Bunchy Top

Bunch Back Against Bunchy Top 12 September 2018

Bunch Back Against Bunchy Top

Attend a Banana Macropropagation Workshop to learn how to propagate healthy, disease-free banana plants using macropropagation techniques! This field day will cover management of Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV), a demonstration of rapid BBTV detection, and propagation of clean banana plants through macropropagation.

Catch the New Wave on Catfish

Catch the New Wave on Catfish 12 September 2018

Catch the New Wave on Catfish

There’s an exciting new technique in town for catfish producers: the use of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)! Find out more at the Chinese Catfish Hatchery and Spawning Workshop, which will be held at the Waimanalo Research Station’s Aquaponics Lab on Saturday, September 15, from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon.

Feeling Seedy?

Feeling Seedy? 12 September 2018

Feeling Seedy?

Come to the Hawai‘i Seed Fest, providing “Local Seeds for Local Needs,” on Saturday, September 22, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Waimanalo Research Station. There you can join local community conversations on the hows and whys of growing seeds specifically adapted for Hawai’i. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required.

Get Pepped Up

Get Pepped Up 12 September 2018

Get Pepped Up

Need a little spice in your life? Come to the Jalapeño Pepper Field Day at the Poamoho Research Station on Tuesday, October 9, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. This field day will provide field observations of 20 commercially available mild and regular-heat jalapeño pepper varieties, including gorgeous purple peppers!

 

Go Pro—AgPro!

Go Pro—AgPro! 12 September 2018

Go Pro—AgPro!

Extension agents and specialists are invited to the AgPro professional-development training on October 23 and 24 on Maui. The two-day event, with the theme of “Extending Our Reach: Technology Use in Cooperative Extension,” will offer the latest updates relating to the use of technology in architecture, livestock, and Extension education.

Healthy Eating with the Kaleiopu‘u Keiki

Healthy Eating with the Kaleiopu‘u Keiki 12 September 2018

Healthy Eating with the Kaleiopu‘u Keiki

Monica Esquivel (HNFAS) took a visit to the Kaleiopu‘u Elementary kindergarten classrooms to share information about nutrition, physical activity, and community resources for healthy eating and food. The presentation was a part of a project to help the 135 kindergarteners at Kaleiopu‘u learn about healthy food choices and exercise.

 

A Century of Extension Excellence

A Century of Extension Excellence 6 September 2018

A Century of Extension Excellence

CTAHR’s Cooperative Extension will be celebrating its 90th year with UH, along with its 4-H program’s 100-year anniversary. A celebration luncheon will be held on November 7 at the Ala Moana Hotel’s Hibiscus Ballroom, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Don't miss it!
 

Documents to download

How Risky Is Your Food?

How Risky Is Your Food? 6 September 2018

How Risky Is Your Food?

Junior Extension agent Kylie Wong Tavares has been awarded a Roy A. Goff Memorial Endowment Fund scholarship of $750 in support of her coursework on “Quantifying Food Risk” and “Foodborne Disease Epidemiology,” funding that will allow her to better serve her clientele.
 

Composting Helps Water Quality

Composting Helps Water Quality 6 September 2018

Composting Helps Water Quality

Extension agent Glen Fukumoto (HNFAS) recently returned from the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, where he was doing work on water quality and piggery systems as part of his MultiState Extension project with the college’s Pacific Island land-grant partners. 

Get Your Spray On

Get Your Spray On 30 August 2018

Get Your Spray On

A Small-Scale Pesticide Application Demonstration is being held at the Poamoho Research Station on Saturday, September 22, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. This field day will cover small-scale pesticide-application equipment, sprayer calibration techniques, selecting the right application equipment for the job, and much more.

Go the Course

Go the Course 30 August 2018

Go the Course

Cooperative Extension will be offering a Pesticide Reduced-Risk Education Short Course on O‘ahu on October 16–17. This in-depth two-day short course will educate participants about handling pesticides, including herbicides, in ways that will reduce risks to people and our environment.

Reproductive Success from Hawai‘i to Brazil!

Reproductive Success from Hawai‘i to Brazil! 30 August 2018

Reproductive Success from Hawai‘i to Brazil!

Kyle Caires (HNFAS) gave two presentations on his collaboratory research at the XXIVth Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society of Embryo Technology in Florianopolis, Brazil, on improving reproductive success in Wagyu or ‘Japanese Black’ cattle and characterizing the microbiota of the vaginal tract of sheep.

Where the Pigs Are

Where the Pigs Are 30 August 2018

Where the Pigs Are

Swine specialist Halina Zaleski (HNFAS) is quoted in an article about the resurgence of Hawai‘i’s pork industry published in Honolulu Civil Beat. She explains that pork is a critical part of many cultures in Hawai‘i—not just any pork, but the whole pig, which makes it unique in terms of livestock production and opens a critical space for local producers.

Make Way for Macadamia

Make Way for Macadamia 30 August 2018

Make Way for Macadamia

Mark Wright (PEPS) was interviewed for a Civil Beat article on efforts to control the macadamia felted coccid, a pest of macadamia that can suck the trees dry of sap, killing them. Mark is one of the state’s foremost researchers on the coccid and says that the insect is taking its toll on the industry.

Land and Sea

Land and Sea 22 August 2018

Land and Sea

Co-PIs Andre Seale and Rajesh Jha (both HNFAS), in collaboration with Darren Lerner and Darren Okimoto of the UH Sea Grant College Program, recently received a 3-year NOAA Sea Grant 2018 Aquaculture Initiative award of $749,815. 

Livestock and Collaboration in China

Livestock and Collaboration in China 22 August 2018

Livestock and Collaboration in China

Rajesh Jha (HNFAS) recently returned from China after teaching the summer intensive course “Livestock Ecology” to the students of Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Xianyang. He has been serving as a visiting professor at the university for last three years. 

Pesticide Risk Reduction Education Short Course: October on Oahu

20 August 2018

Pesticide Risk Reduction Education Short Course: October on Oahu

This in-depth two-day short course is about handling pesticides, including herbicides, in ways that will reduce risks to people and our environment. It would benefit people who want to be better informed about handling pesticides properly or prepare for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s examination for restricted use pesticide certification. (Certified applicators will not earn re-certification credits by attending this course.) (The course does not include the exam for restricted use pesticide certification.)

Food Safety in Aquaponics

Food Safety in Aquaponics 15 August 2018

Food Safety in Aquaponics

There will be a free online webinar on “Challenges and Opportunities for Implementing Food Safety Programs in Commercial Aquaponic Production of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables” on Friday, August 24, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. via Zoom, featuring present and former faculty and staff from the college.

On the Wings of Song

On the Wings of Song 15 August 2018

On the Wings of Song

The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra will again be performing the successful multimedia collaboration Symphony of the Hawaiian Birds, spearheaded by Melissa Price (NREM), on October 31 and November 1 for students in grades 4 through 12. If you know any teachers who might like to bring their classes to a performance, make sure to let them know!

From Indonesia, With Love

From Indonesia, With Love 15 August 2018

From Indonesia, With Love

Samir Khanal (MBBE) recently returned from Indonesia, where he was invited to deliver a summer course and special lectures at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He also participated in discussions with university representatives about research collaborations and student exchange possibilities.

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8 April 2020

Pigs and Papaya

CTAHR Extension is helping two industries save each other

Pigs and Papaya

The pig farmers had no feed for their pigs. The papaya farmers had no market for their papayas. But CTAHR brought them together.

Both local industries have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 75% of swine producers’ feed comes from food waste generated by schools, restaurants, and hotels. But this supply has dwindled radically since Hawai‘i residents began sheltering in place. Papaya growers have found their markets slashed since US Mainland distributors stopped buying papaya during the crisis, as consumers focus on canned and other long-keeping items they can stockpile.

Faced with the shortage, pig farmers quickly switched to purchasing Mainland grain. But this caused a shortage of pig pellets at local feed stores, leaving the Islands without feed until the next boat. It’s not a sustainable solution, either. Pig pellets are more costly and require more fossil fuel to transport, and local farmers have to rely on a supply chain that may break down at any stage. Transporting large amounts of feed might also strain a shipping industry struggling to keep Hawai‘i supplied with essentials for humans.

At the same time, papaya growers were in danger of going under. Approximately 50 families, independent growers and members of the non-profit Hawaii Papaya Industry Association (HIPA) are in desperate need of immediate assistance. They have no other income than selling papayas, and their market has crashed, yet they do not qualify for unemployment. 

CTAHR’s Role

CTAHR Extension livestock agent Mike DuPonte, a member of the Hawaii Island Pork Association, began coordinating with HIPA president Eric Weinert of the large Hilo packing plant and exporter Calavo Growers.

Together, they’ve created a short-term means to protect both industries and Hawai‘i’s precious food supply. Pigs readily eat papaya, and there’s plenty to be had. Mike is coordinating with the animal farmers needing a food source by providing an estimate of need. Papaya farmers will pick and supply the papaya to be used as feed. Eric Weinert will open the packing plant as a marshalling yard to receive and distribute the papaya. HPIA will provide forklifts, scales, and recordkeeping.

It’s not a complete solution—papaya doesn’t provide all the nutrients that pigs need over the long term, and swine producers can’t afford to pay the prices that papaya farmers usually command from human consumers. So CTAHR agents are also helping members of both organizations get financial funding and other emergency aid from the federal government and large corporations like Land O’ Lakes, which runs a feed and shipping program and will work with farmers to subsidize them.

But for now, this locally grown partnership is keeping both industries afloat while they explore other solutions, ensuring that essential elements of our Islands’ food sufficiency can survive.