Coffee Berry Borer spreads to Oahu

Certain coffee growers in the U.S state of Hawaii are familiar with the coffee berry borer after struggling with the invasive pest for the past four years. But despite introducing a new action plan earlier on in the year, the insect has now spread and has begun to settle in previously borer-free areas.

Last Wednesday, the state Department of Agriculture (DoA) confirmed that the borer had been discovered on farms in Waialua, Oahu.

According an accompanying press release, the pest was discovered by accident: The Agricultural Research Service was undertaking a study on the flowering of coffee in the Waialua area when they stumbled across the berry borer.

Oahu has since been placed under quarantine and the DoA has prevented the transportation of unroasted coffee beans off the island.

However this move has caused consternation amongst some.

“We’ve been barred from sending green coffee to Oahu without jumping through hoops. The rules and regulations were so onerous, we just decided to stop all shipments,” said Bob Smith, a farm owner in Honaunau.

But, despite this loss of trade, others aren’t too worried – in the short term at least.

One such individual is Bruce Corker, a fellow farmer, but one who is based in Holualoa. “For small farmers like us, most of us have some home roasters that buy green coffee on the mainland.”

“[Oahu] was never a large business anyway,” he added.

But besides the sanctions, authorities are now beginning to work out how to tackle the borer problem. Indeed much has been learnt over the previous couple of years and the information gained during the work on Hawaii island will hopefully be an invaluable asset.

However, the more predominant farms on Oahu utilise a mechanical harvesting process instead of the more traditional, and labour intensive, hand-picking method that is preferred on the Big Island.

Speaking about this, Darcy Oishi and plant pest control manager commented that “this represents the first time in the state of Hawaii that [the coffee berry borer] is present on a farm that does not [harvest by hand].”

The matter is scheduled to be discussed at the next Board of Agriculture meeting, which will take place tomorrow.

Cliffs of the Koolau Range by Lukas. Used under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.