2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Since 2013, research and outreach has been conducted in Hawaii on managing Coffee Berry Borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari). CBB integrated pest management (IPM) recommendations were developed for Hawaii coffee growers and modified as new information was discovered. Outreach of these technologies included workshops, field days, Extension publications, and videos. Grower surveys from 2012 to 2018 show positive impacts over time, resulting from the adoption and understanding of Hawaii’s CBB IPM program and indicate high adoption for the most important aspects of CBB control including field sanitation and especially timely strip picking, sampling and monitoring, and Beauveria bassiana sprays. Other industry responses to the introduction of CBB include purchasing cherry using a sliding scale price based on CBB damage, an interisland quarantine of green coffee and any coffee related materials, and the perceived need to increase yields to offset production costs. Education efforts and quarantine regulations have slowed the spread to other islands and farms. Those implementing CBB IPM recommendations and selling cherry to processors, received top dollar per pound of coffee. As a result of CBB, cherry and estate farmers are also learning of other threats to production, including the coffee root-knot nematode.