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News and Events :
Accomplishments and On-going Projects
- Developed and demonstrated a sustainable production system for ohelo, Vaccinium reticulatum, as a specialty berry crop and as a potted ornamental (2005-10).
- Demonstrated the growing and processing of tea, Camellia sinensis, a potential high value, niche market crop for Hawaii agriculture diversification (2001-05).
- Developed method to detect the adventitious presence of transgenic material in Carica papaya seed germplasm (2006-10).
- Developed methods for rapid pathogen detection and host screening of pre– and post-harvest diseases of tropical fruit germplasm, including longan, rambutan, and guava (2002-10).
- Defined the etiology of Macadamia Quick Decline (MQD) caused by Phytophthora tropicalis, identified key diagnostic indicators, developed an innovative fungicide delivery method to control the disease, and solved a long-standing recalcitrant problem; discovered MQD v2 caused by P. heveae (2010-20).
- Discovered, described, and developed a diagnostic qPCR assay for two fungal pathogens (Ceratocystis lukuohia and Ceratocystis huliohia) killing ohia, Hawaii’s most significant native forest tree (2018-22).
- Confirmed the pathogenicity of coffee leaf rust (Hemelia vastatrix) in Hawaii. Working with collaborators at the University of Lisbon, Portugal have identified CLR in Hawaii as race XXIV. This information will be used to select coffee germplasm for Hawaii coffee production (2020-22).
- Participate in on-going NPGS system-wide evaluation, documentation and back-up of tropical germplasm.
- Serves as back-up location for sub-tropical and tropical fruit and nuts in the NPGS including germplasm collections from Miami, Florida and Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
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