News and Events


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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) - 1773 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.

Landscape Tested

Landscape Tested 12 September 2017

Landscape Tested

About 50 landscapers participated in a practice exam for the 2017 O‘ahu Landscape Industry Certified Technician (LICT) Program at Waimanalo Research Station in August.

Compost That

Compost That 9 August 2017

Compost That

Cooperative Extension faculty addressed green and brown farm waste at a Hands-On Composting Workshop they organized with Organic Matters Hawai‘i in Kona.

Pine-ing Away

Pine-ing Away 9 August 2017

Pine-ing Away

Brent Sipes, PEPS, recently trained a group of ethnic-minority Garo people on environmentally sound and safe pineapple cultivation in rural Bangladesh.

Funded on Maui

Funded on Maui 3 August 2017

Funded on Maui

Maui County has funded eight CTAHR projects for FY18, from control of Axis deer and fruit flies to evaluation of taro varieties and expansion of turmeric to youth bee-keeping workshops.

A Waimanalo Welcome

A Waimanalo Welcome 3 August 2017

A Waimanalo Welcome

8/3/2017 - The Waimanalo Research Station hosted UH President/UH Manoa Chancellor David Lassner on July 28.  He was greeted with chants by Malama Honua Charter School students, who use the site, and with a welcome from from Interim Dean Rachel Novotny and Malama Honua Executive Director Herb Lee.

KIDS COUNT

KIDS COUNT 15 June 2017

KIDS COUNT

June - 2017

Center on the Family announces release of Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual KIDS COUNT Data Book for Hawai‘i, which uses 16 indicators to rank the state on what children need to thrive.

4-H for Hawai‘i

4-H for Hawai‘i 8 June 2017

4-H for Hawai‘i

It's not just livestock

Beyond livestock, 4-H promotes youth well-being, leadership skills, community engagement, and STEM activities, says state coordinator Jeff Goodwin.

The Bee’s Knees

The Bee’s Knees 7 June 2017

The Bee’s Knees

Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences’s Scott Nikaido explains the importance of pollinators to Hawai‘i crops and how people can support pollinator health by using fewer insecticides and more pollinator-friendly plants.

Prepared Youth

Prepared Youth 17 May 2017

Prepared Youth

Hawai‘i is the second state that trained adults to instruct kids in a youth preparedness national pilot project. 3 4-H agents were certified through the Hawai‘i Youth Preparedness Initiative.

A Web Winner

A Web Winner 11 May 2017

A Web Winner

Hawai‘i Association of County Agricultural Agents nominated Andrea Kawabata for their national organization’s Communications Award for her coffee berry borer beetle website.

GoFarm Grows

4 May 2017

GoFarm Grows

The GoFarm Hawai‘i beginning farmer training program received new grants from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Kamehameha Schools.

Prevent the Parasite

4 May 2017

Prevent the Parasite

With new cases of rat lungworm reported in the Islands, Extension Agent Jari Sugano was featured on Hawaii News Now offering some tips on reducing the risk of the disease.

Gut Feeling

Gut Feeling 4 May 2017

Gut Feeling

GoFarm and Ag Incubator alumnus and entrepreneur Rob Barreca and graduate student Surely Wallace promoted fermented foods in a recent Honolulu Star-Advertiser article.

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17 March 2023

Excellence in Extension

The Dean’s Award goes to the Banana Bunchy Top Virus Team

Excellence in Extension

The Dean’s Award for Excellence in Extension distinguishes an exceptional Extension faculty member or team whose work has demonstrated outstanding performance and significant results. This year, the award goes to the team who have worked to revitalize the Hawaiʻi banana industry with clean, virus-free planting materials in a statewide Extension outreach program.

For decades, the local banana industry has been suffering from severe losses caused by the banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) and Panama wilt. To rebuild this vital industry, farmers desperately needed clean planting material free of diseases, best management practices, and a strong statewide Extension education effort. Working with local banana industry members the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Hawaiʻi Agriculture Research Center, UH CTAHR jump-started a multifaceted strategy to manage BBTV via the distribution of tissue-cultured planting materials to statewide producers.

More than 2,000 seedlings of a cultivar tolerant to BBTV and Panama wilt were distributed statewide. Twenty-five workshops (virtual and in-person) were conducted in conjunction with distribution to advance vector management. Advanced field trainings were held to show farmers how to collect clean young crop from their newly planted fields, test for BBTV using new technology, and establish new crop lands to promote long-term sustainability of practices.

Results of this effort include:

  • Bananas grown in 2021 for sales on-island increased to 3.2 million pounds, 71% higher than in 2020.
  • Testimonials from Oʻahu farmers indicated that in 2019, grade A banana production was close to zero due to the long-standing nature of the BBTV disease cycle. A cooperating farmer who reported zero harvest in 2019 harvested 30,385 pounds in 2021 and 50,068 pounds in 2022.
  • Another cooperator multiplied 90 virus-free starter seedlings to cover 10 acres of previously destroyed BBTV croplands.

These statewide testimonials support the HDOA report that local banana production is rebounding. This is good news for both the agricultural producers and consumers of Hawaiʻi.

Members of the CTAHR team working on this project include:

  • Amjad Ahmad, Extension Agent
  • Koon-Hui Wang, PEPS Department Chair
  • Jensen Uyeda, Extension Agent
  • Sharon Wages, Associate Extension Agent
  • Emilie Kirk, Assistant Extension Agent
  • Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite, Assistant Extension Agent
  • Joshua Silva, Associate Extension Agent
  • Jennifer Hawkins, Junior Extension Agent
  • Theodore Radovich, Extension Specialist
  • Kylie Tavares, Junior Extension Agent
  • Russell Galanti, Junior Extension Agent
  • Jari Sugano, Oʻahu County Administrator