News and Events


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Not Root-Knot

Not Root-Knot 2 February 2018

Not Root-Knot

Coffee farmers got the low-down on a root-knot nematode at a Kona research plot that's amassed 11 years of research data on the pest.

Forestry Find

Forestry Find 2 February 2018

Forestry Find

Check out the great new website for Hawai‘i Forestry Extension!

Aquaponics and Health

Aquaponics and Health 21 December 2017

Aquaponics and Health

CTAHR Community Coordinator Ilima Ho-Lastimosa is part of a multidisciplinary effort to address health disparities thorough backyard aquaponics.

Maui County Awardees

Maui County Awardees 21 December 2017

Maui County Awardees

Maui County Extension celebrated its 2017 award winners — Secretary Clarisse Baisa, to left in lei, for service to faculty and staff, and Research Technician Edwin Perez, at right in cap, winner of the Administrator’s Award.

Congratulations Shirley Han!

Congratulations Shirley Han! 21 December 2017

Congratulations Shirley Han!

Office Assistant Shirley Han, left, was recognized for her service to the Molokai Cooperative Extension staff at a December 2017 lunch hosted by Maui County Administrator Cynthia Reeves (in red).

Bee on Screen

Bee on Screen 14 November 2017

Bee on Screen

Videos on the life cycle of bees and apian role in the rise of flowering plants captured national entomology awards for a CTAHR-led team.

Good Breeding

Good Breeding 14 November 2017

Good Breeding

Bred under the direction of the Mealani Research Station staff, CTAHR bulls rank among the top 5% of Angus in the country and are free of a common genetic disorder.

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks 14 November 2017

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks

Agritourism expert and one of “five women rocking” the Hawai‘i food scene Pomai Weigert has joined GoFarm as an agbusiness consultant.

Elder Affairs Advisor

Elder Affairs Advisor 14 November 2017

Elder Affairs Advisor

Center on the Family Assistant Specialist Sarah Yuan has been re-appointed to the State’s Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs for a second four-year term.

New Kaua‘i Agent

New Kaua‘i Agent 26 October 2017

New Kaua‘i Agent

Emilie Kirk has joined the Kaua‘i County Cooperative Extension team as junior Extension agent and Master Gardener coordinator with a focus on edible crops, food safety and security, ag education and production, and leadership development.

Virus Free is Sweet

Virus Free is Sweet 23 October 2017

Virus Free is Sweet

CTAHR organized a sweetpotato growers meeting featuring mainland experts and yield-boosting virus-tested ‘Okinawan’ planting materials.

Ruminating on Peas

Ruminating on Peas 23 October 2017

Ruminating on Peas

Low-water, nitrogen-fixing, tasty cowpeas are a potential niche crop for Hawai‘i producers, as Junior Extension Agent Jensen Uyeda recently demonstrated.

Delegates to National 4-H Congress

Delegates to National 4-H Congress 28 September 2017

Delegates to National 4-H Congress

The State committee reviewed the senior portfolios, interviewed the 4-H’ers and have come up with a list of 10 delegates qualified to represent Hawaii at this year’s National 4-H Congress in late November.

Giant Success

Giant Success 28 September 2017

Giant Success

East Hawai‘i 4-H had a huge presence at the Hawai‘i County Fair—both as volunteers and producers. In fact, they set four state records for produce—including a 20+ pound kalo and 137+ and 2+ pound tomato.

Samoa Swine Survey

Samoa Swine Survey 20 September 2017

Samoa Swine Survey

CTAHR Specialist Halina Zaleski assists in American Samoa’s first swine disease survey in two decades.

Irrigation Covered

Irrigation Covered 13 September 2017

Irrigation Covered

Choosing, funding, and using irrigation systems and conservation groundcovers was the focus of a Cooperative Extension workshop for orchardists at the Kona Extension Office and Research Station.

Documents to download

  • irrigate(.jpg, 90.61 KB) - 1935 download(s)

Myanmar Mission

Myanmar Mission 13 September 2017

Myanmar Mission

Glen Fukumoto and Jonathan Deenik teamed up to teach poultry waste composting and soil fertility to Myanmar farmers and officials through a USAID–funded Farmer-to-Farmer workshop series.

Digest this…

Digest this… 13 September 2017

Digest this…

Anerobic biodigester technology has improved the quality of life for Cambodian farmers, turning animal waste to fuel and fertilizer, thanks in part to MBBE researcher Samir Khanal.

‘Ulu Day on Maui

‘Ulu Day on Maui 12 September 2017

‘Ulu Day on Maui

Maui Master Gardeners helped homeowners select appropriate trees and TPSS’s Noa Lincoln described his research on the staple food crop during the Valley Isle’s first La ‘Ulu (Breadfruit Day).

New 4-H Horse Pen

New 4-H Horse Pen 12 September 2017

New 4-H Horse Pen

Na Lima A Me Na Pu‘uwai O Kohala 4-H Club families and community sponsors celebrated their new riding pen with a horse show, barbecue and other activities.

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17 October 2019

They Love Olives

New agricultural pest discovered at Big Island experiment station

They Love Olives

CTAHR faculty and staff were instrumental in discovering a new fruit fly pest that’s recently been identified in Hawai‘i for the first time: the olive fruit fly (OLFF), Bactrocera oleae. According to the New Pest Advisory from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, the OLFF can attack all species of Olea, including the common olive (Olea europaea) and the African olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata), unfitting them for either oil processing or table consumption. 

Damaged olive fruit were found at the Lālāmilo Research Station in Waimea in 2019, in trees that were planted in 2011. Subsequent surveys by HDOA personnel also found the OLFF at other sites on Hawai‘i Island and Maui.

The timing was unfortunate for the pest’s arrival—for the humans, if not the insects—since there was a bumper crop of olives at Lālāmilo in 2019. Average yield per tree by cultivar at Lālāmilo in 2019 ranges from 15.10 lbs per tree for the ‘Mission’ variety’s five trees to a whopping 82.35 lbs. per tree of the seven ‘Koroneiki’ trees! ‘Arbosana’ is nearly as prolific, at 70.39 lbs. per tree. But many of the fruits were spoiled by the pest.

Olives can only be grown in a relatively few areas in the Islands, since they require chilling to induce flowering and do best at high elevations. Lālāmilo is 2,500 ft. above sea level, while the Maui Agricultural Research Center in Kula, where olives are also being grown by CTAHR, is at 3,100 ft.