Kauai added to state coffee berry borer-infested areas, new rules take effect
Kauai is now officially on Hawaii’s coffee berry borer-infested list, easing some interisland movement rules but leaving live plant material under permit.
State agriculture officials expanded Hawaii’s coffee berry borer-infested areas to include Kauai and Lānai on June 24, putting new rules in place for coffee growers, backyard producers and anyone moving coffee material between islands. The Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity approved the change the day before, and the designation took effect immediately.
On Kauai, green coffee beans for roasting or consumption, used coffee bags and coffee harvesting equipment no longer need a permit for movement between infested islands. Those items are still subject to periodic and random inspections, but they can move without the older permit-and-inspection process. Coffee plants, propagative plant parts and seeds for planting still require a permit, a safeguard aimed at stopping the spread of pests in live material.
Molokai remains the only island not considered infested, so stricter controls still apply there. Coffee items headed to Molokai can still face permits and disinfestation treatment, and planting material is subject to a one-year quarantine.
Coffee berry borer was first confirmed in Hawaii in Kona in September 2010, then in Kaū in May 2011, Oahu in December 2014 and Maui in December 2016. Kauai’s first confirmed detection came in a residential area in Kalaheo in September 2020, after a resident submitted suspect berries. Kauai Coffee had been informed and had not yet detected coffee berry borer in its fields. Coffee berry borer is one of the most damaging pests in the crop. University of Hawaii researchers found it can cause yield losses of 30% to 35% when every berry is infested at harvest, with damage getting worse when picking is delayed. In the 2023-2024 season, coffee was grown on about 1,000 farms across 7,400 acres on five Hawaiian islands, producing 3.4 million pounds of green coffee valued at $67 million.
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