STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1291
Honolulu, Hawaii
S.D. 1
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.R. No. 217 entitled:
"SENATE RESOLUTION URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO IDENTIFY HOW COFFEE BERRY BORER AND COFFEE LEAF RUST ENTERED INTO HAWAII AND MEASURES TO PREVENT THE FLOW OF THESE INVASIVE SPECIES INTO THE STATE TO PROTECT THE ONGOING VIABILITY OF HAWAI‘I'S COFFEE INDUSTRY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the Department of Agriculture to identify how coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust entered into Hawaii and measures to prevent the flow of these invasive species into the State to protect the ongoing viability of Hawaii's coffee industry
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Kona Coffee Farmers Association and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture.
Your Committee finds that in 2010, the coffee berry borer, a small beetle that is harmful to coffee crops worldwide, was found to have infested coffee crops in the Kona and Kau regions of Hawaii island and has since been detected on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Lanai. Over ninety percent of coffee farms in the Kona region are affected by the coffee berry borer, where every farm in the region has experienced a degree of infestation and secondary infestation, drastically reducing the yield of coffee trees and adversely impacting the quantity and price of coffee from the Kona region. Coffee leaf rust can cause severe defoliation of coffee plants that greatly reduces the photosynthetic capacity of plants and vegetative and berry growth are reduced depending on the intensity of rust in the current year. The infestation of coffee farms by the coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust threatens to dismantle Hawaii's coffee industry because of the severity and rapidity of the infestations.
Despite the lack of resources, the Department of Agriculture has been working with the University of Hawaii and the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to develop measures to prevent the spread of coffee leaf rust, provide outreach, and implement interim rules to limit the spread throughout the State. Your Committee finds that it is imperative that the State understand how the coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust were introduced to understand and mitigate the risks that these pests may cause to the coffee industry.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of
clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 217, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 217, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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