#HDOA

Twenty-four Hawaiʻi businesses were given reimbursements from the ag department for collecting and transporting compost within the state this past fiscal year.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture, with the assistance of the County of Hawaiʻi Public Works Department, began another round of treatment of palm trees at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport on Tuesday, May 6, in an effort to stop the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) from becoming established on Hawaiʻi Island. This was a follow-up to treatment conducted last month at the airport.

The HDOA and Hawai‘i County crews completed the latest round of treatments on palm trees last week at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in the continuing effort to protect the island from CRB infestations.

The initial 90-day pause was issued on Dec. 13, 2024 and expires on March 13, 2025. The extension will continue until June 13, 2025.

A live snake was found in a container of Christmas trees as it was being unloaded at a store in Hilo on Saturday morning, Nov. 16.

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture has opened three requests for proposals to assist in the control and management of invasive pests, including the coconut rhinoceros beetle, little fire ants and two-lined spittle bug. Information on the requests is available on the State Procurement Office, Hawai‘i Awards and Notices Data System website, at hands.ehawaii.gov/hands/opportunities.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for the Compost Reimbursement Program for Fiscal Year 2025, which may reimburse agricultural producers for the cost of purchasing compost, including transportation costs.

Hawai‘i has been awarded $524,773 by the US Department of Agriculture under its 2024 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Through this grant program, the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture will fund nine projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop products and create new market opportunities for the state’s specialty crop producers.

Record funding for biosecurity measures approved by the state legislature this year will expand the state’s efforts to stop the spread of invasive species such as little fire ants, the coconut rhinoceros beetle and coqui frogs, the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture (HDOA) announced Monday.

A coffee labeling bill to protect local farmers and preserve the authenticity of Hawaiʻi-grown products has passed the 2024 Legislative Session and is expected to become law upon the governor’s signature.

Due to the recent highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detections in livestock on the mainland, the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) has placed a restriction on the transport of cattle from premises where HPAI has infected cattle. Currently, HPAI has been detected in dairy cattle in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Idaho, Ohio and Michigan; however, the restriction will be placed on any future areas where HPAI-infected cattle are found. No infected cattle have been detected in Hawai‘i.

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture is reminding travelers attending the Merrie Monarch Festival this week that quarantine restrictions remain on the transport of ʻōhiʻa from Hawaiʻi Island due to the fungal plant disease, rapid ʻōhiʻa death, which is devastating to native forests. The Merrie Monarch Festival begins in Hilo on March 31 and ends April 6.

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture will be awarding a total of approximately $523,000 to Hawai‘i proposals that enhance the competitiveness of Hawai‘i specialty crops.

The state is reporting progress in the transfer of state leases for pastoral and agricultural lands from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to the state Department of Agriculture. “The transfer of these leases, representing tens of thousands of acres, will help to further preserve important agricultural lands and support the state’s self-sufficiency,” said Gov. Green.

The PDP is a statewide project with the second pesticide collection event to be on Maui on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The registration deadline is Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 by 4:30 p.m.  The exact drop-off location on Maui will be provided only to registered participants.

The new interim rule follows the first detection of CRB on Maui three weeks ago, when a dead adult CRB was found in a bag of compost shipped from O‘ahu at a Maui retailer. No other CRB has been detected on Maui. However, the efforts to restore the land and soil on Maui and Hawai‘i Island due to the wildfire damage have increased shipments of compost and organic landscaping material from O‘ahu, increasing the risk of the transport of CRB to non-infested areas.

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture is inviting public comments until August 11 for the US Department of Agriculture Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program, which aims to strengthen the stateʻs food supply chain.

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the popular Micro-Grant for Food Security Program. This is the third year of the grant program which provides support for small-scale gardening, herding and livestock operations to increase the quantity and quality of locally grown food in food insecure communities.

Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) and Congresswoman Jill Tokuda (HI-02) announced that the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will award more than $2.5 million to Hawaiʻi’s Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program.

The Hawai`i Department of Agriculture is now accepting proposals for the Grow Hawai`i Agriculture Initiative 2021, an initiative to quickly scale up commercial agricultural production including the production of value-added products with the goal to increase the contribution of agriculture to the state’s gross domestic product.