Webinars
are Scheduled on Coffee Leaf Rust and New Fungicide
Two
free coffee leaf rust webinarswill be held in April to help inform Hawaii coffee growers on the
potential use of a fungicide to combat coffee leaf rust.
The
devastating coffee pathogen has been found on Maui, Lanai, Hawaii island and
Oahu and poses a serious threat the state’s $56 million coffee industry,
according to the state Department of Agriculture.
Earlier
this month, the DOA filed a request for emergency exemption with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to allow the use of a fungicide, Priaxor
Xemium, on coffee plants in Hawaii. The fungicide is approved for use on other
agricultural crops, but EPAapproval is needed to allow its use specifically on
coffee plants, the department said Tuesday.
Hawaii
researchers believe that Priaxor has the ability to inhibit the coffee leaf
rust spore germination and growth on the coffee plant leaves, unlike currently
approved contact fungicides that kill spores on the outside of the leaf.
In
anticipation that the EPA may approve the request by the end of April, the
University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and
the DOA will host two Zoom webinars on the safe use of the fungicide.
The
webinars will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday and April 8.
Registration is required at www.HawaiiCoffeeEd.com/priaxor.
For
more information on the webinars, contact UH-CTAHR Associate Extension Agent
Andrea Kawabata at andreak@ hawaii.edu or call (808) 322-0164.