Progress report for FW24-014
Project Information
The global coconut market was valued at $4 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $7 billion by 2027. North America has the most significant demand for coconut products globally. Hawaii is the most significant producer of coconuts in the US. Production has not been sufficient to meet market demands.
The coconut industry in Hawaii faces two major threats, both of which this proposal seeks to mitigate. First, the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) feeds on emerging palm fronds causing severe damage that can kill the plant. Secondly, lethal yellowing (LY) is a disease that kills coconuts worldwide. As of yet, Hawaii has not found evidence of LY. In order to prepare for the likely emergence of LY, this proposal seeks to provide superior planting material of LY-resistant coconuts. By expanding the availability of coconut planting materials, we hope to mitigate the impact of LY and CRB in Hawaii.
Unless preventative and mitigating measures are implemented, CRB and LY can devastate the coconut industry. This devastation would impact Hawaii's cultural heritage, agriculture, ecosystem, and economy. Both research and educational outreach is needed to grow and maintain a sustain coconut industry in the face of these threats.
The research objective is to test two coconut varieties for the lowest cost and technically simplest tissue culture method to produce disease-resistant coconut palms. Propagating the coconut palm through constraint-minded tissue culture offers a mechanism to rapidly increase the number of disease-resistant coconut palms.
We will post on social media to update on the research and provide useful information on disease and pest control, coconut growing, tissue culture, and nursery management. We will hold field days that consist of workshops and community presentations. The aim of these efforts is to educate stakeholders and assist producer-adoption of sustainable agriculture practices.
Research Objective: To test the difference between two coconut varieties for the lowest cost and technically simplest tissue culture method to produce disease-resistant coconut palms in order to mitigate the impact of the coconut rhinoceros beetle and lethal yellowing in Hawaii.
Education Objective: To educate producers, stakeholders, students, agricultural professionals, etc., regarding the threats facing the sustainability of the coconut industry in Hawaii, namely from the threats of coconut rhinoceros beetle and lethal yellowing.
| Month # to Month # | Activities | Team members |
| 1 to 6 | Order supplies, prepare zygotic embryos, initiate education plan |
Halina, Alex, Ken |
| 2 to 24 | Initial vitro culture, continue education plan | Halina, Alex, Ken |
| 6 to 24 | Induce proliferation from meristem and subculture of explants, continue education plan |
Halina, Alex, Ken |
| 9 to 24 | Systematic increase of light to explants, continue education plan |
Halina, Alex, Ken |
| 13 to 24 | Transfer plantlets from the shade to the greenhouse in soil-less media to acclimatize to field conditions, continue education plan |
Halina, Alex, Ken |
| 24 to 36 | Growing of palms in nursery and distribution to producers, continue education plan, writing of article. |
Halina, Alex, Ken |
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
- - Producer
Research
Research Objective: To test the difference between two coconut varieties for the lowest cost and technically simplest tissue culture method to produce disease-resistant coconut palms in order to mitigate the impact of the coconut rhinoceros beetle and lethal yellowing in Hawaii.
During this process we will tissue culture 500 Malayan Dwarf and 500 Fiji Dwarf coconut palms and make them available to Hawaii growers at-cost by the close of this project’s third year.
The project site is a 20 acre farm on the Big Island of Hawaii. The lab will be set up in a room of the packing warehouse. This farm has been serving as a germplasm repository of disease-resistant coconut palms, including the Malayan Dwarf and Fiji Dwarf. Which are widely recognized to be resistant to YL, and also low-bearing and heavy-bearing. The research design, data collection, and methods of analysis will be overseen by Dr. Alex Smolak. He is one of the producers on this proposal and he is also an epidemiologist and biostatistician who works for Cornell University. Dr. Smolak will be donating his time to this project.
Two coconut varieties will be tissue cultured during this research. The main outcome measure will be the number of successfully propagated palms from each variety.
Details of the materials and technique will be recorded in a spreadsheet. Statistical analysis will be conducted and a publication will be written detailing the results. This manuscript will be submitted for peer-review and publication. The first step in the analysis will involve descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics will include frequency and summary measures of the mother plants, the explants, the media, the technique, the growth of plantlets, and their growth in soil-less potting media. Next, we will conduct regression analysis to measure the outcomes between the two varieties.
We are aware of the previous work and approaches to the problem. The most recent ground breaking study on the topic of coconut tissue culture was published in Nature during 2021, "Development of the first axillary in vitro shoot multiplication protocol for coconut palms." The authors tested six varieties including the Malayan Dwarf, but not the Fiji Dwarf. Concerning CRB and YL, The Hawaii Department of Agriculture is leading the surveillance and control effort of CRB. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture along with the USDA work to keep LY from entering Hawaii. We are not aware of any effort to prepare for the possible introduction of LY to Hawaii. There appears to be no effort in any larger nursery to supply LY-resistant coconut varieties.
We will utilize the standard tissue culture and nursery supplies to conduct this research into low cost tissue culture of disease resistant coconut palms, including: MP511 benchtop pH meter kit, vertical laminar flow hood, individual dilution tubes, magenta boxes, Eeuwen Y3 basal medium, Gelrite, thidiazuron, 256 cavity 2” deep trays, Nurtricote, Promix, and one gallon nursery pots.
To the best of our knowledge, there is no one in Hawaii addressing CRB and lethal yellowing by propagating disease-resistant varieties by tissue culture in order to manage the harm of CRB and the possible introduction of LY to Hawaii. Furthermore, tissue culture propagation of disease-resistant coconut palms in order to make planting materials more accessible to producers in Hawaii is innovative.
Research Outcomes
Our research on tissue culture propagation of disease-resistant coconut varieties directly supports sustainable agricultural production in Hawaii and the broader Western U.S. by addressing two critical threats: Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) and Lethal Yellowing (LY).
Recommendations for Sustainable Agricultural Production
- Expand Tissue Culture Propagation – Initial findings suggest that tissue culture is a viable method for rapidly increasing the availability of disease-resistant coconut palms. We have put new coconut embryos into culture each week. More than 90% of embryos show growth and some are starting to show shoot development. We are now working on increasing hormones in the medium to encourage greater shoot development. We recommend that Hawaii-based growers adopt tissue culture propagation techniques to establish a more resilient coconut industry.
- Integrated Pest and Disease Management – CRB populations should be controlled through a combination of biological control agents, pheromone trapping, and sanitation practices to limit breeding sites. The availability of LY-resistant varieties through tissue culture can serve as a preemptive measure to protect Hawaii's coconut industry. Replanting materials will be critical to the sustainability of Hawaii's coconut industry.
- Community Education and Stakeholder Engagement – Widespread adoption of sustainable practices requires ongoing education. Field days, workshops, and social media outreach should continue to raise awareness among producers and stakeholders about CRB mitigation, LY prevention, and tissue culture propagation.
- Diversification of Coconut Cultivars – Our research underscores the need for genetic diversity in Hawaii’s coconut plantations. Growers should plant multiple LY-resistant varieties to enhance resilience against potential outbreaks and ensure stable production.
Recommendations for Future Research
- Optimizing Tissue Culture Methods – Further studies should explore cost-effective media formulations and propagation techniques to improve tissue culture success rates and reduce costs for producers.
- Field Performance of Tissue-Cultured Palms – Long-term monitoring is necessary to evaluate the growth, yield, and disease resistance of tissue-cultured palms once they are transplanted in the field.
- Biological Controls for CRB – Future research should investigate the effectiveness of entomopathogenic fungi (e.g., Metarhizium anisopliae) and other natural enemies in controlling CRB populations in Hawaii.
- LY Surveillance and Prevention Strategies – Given the global spread of LY, ongoing research should focus on early detection methods and preventive quarantine measures to keep Hawaii free from the disease.
By integrating tissue culture propagation, pest management, and proactive disease prevention, this research contributes to the long-term sustainability of coconut production in Hawaii. The recommendations outlined here can help mitigate threats, increase productivity, and ensure the viability of the coconut industry for future generations.
Education and Outreach
Participation Summary:
Educational Objective 1: To educate producers, stakeholders, students, agricultural professionals, etc., regarding the threats facing the sustainability of the coconut industry in Hawaii, namely CRB and YL. To promote disease-resistant varieties as an intervention.
We will post on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook once a week to update on the research and provide useful information on coconut growing, tissue culture, and nursery management. We will create several long form videos detailing these topics twice a year for the three year duration of the grant. We will hold field days that consist of workshops and community presentations twice a year for the three year duration of the grant at our farm in Honomu, Hawaii. These will all be posted on the Malama Sanctuary social media accounts and also promoted via Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers and Small Farm Hawaii social media accounts.
We are primarily targeting producers with these research efforts, but will also reach out to stakeholders, students, agricultural professionals, etc. We are particularly interested in reaching underserved communities. Most of our outreach will be conducted via Malama Sanctuary. A key part of this non-profit’s mission to reach out to underserved communities on topics pertaining to agriculture in Hawaii. We will be using Malama Sanctuary’s network of community leaders within underserved communities in order to maximize our effectiveness and reach.
Long and short form videos, and handouts, on the following topics will be created:
- Coconut rhinoceros beetle identification and control
- Coconut lethal yellowing identification and control
- Coconut propagation via tissue culture
- Coconut propagation in the nursery
- Maximizing coconut plantation production and profitability
- Salt as coconut fertilizer
A consistent presence on social media including; short form content on Instagram, and soon on Tiktok and Facebook, long form content on youtube, and handouts will communicate the projects findings to producers and the general public. This is paired with field days consisting of workshops and community presentations at our farm in Honomu, Hawaii. We will also publish our final results as a peer-reviewed article.
Our education plan is innovative as it utilizes multiple communication materials and multiple communication styles, and our network via Malama Sanctuary, Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers, and Small Farm Hawaii to promote our social media content along with our handouts and field days.
We would also like to continue the work beyond the grant period by making this project self-sustaining through at-cost sales of disease-resistant palms to Hawaii growers.
Education and Outreach Results
Our educational and outreach efforts have focused on increasing awareness about the threats of Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) and Lethal Yellowing (LY), while promoting tissue culture propagation as a solution for sustainable coconut production. We have engaged with producers, stakeholders, and underserved communities through various platforms and events to maximize knowledge dissemination.
Key Achievements:
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Social Media Engagement:
- We have maintained an active presence on Instagram, and will soon add YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, about our research, pest management strategies, and sustainable coconut cultivation techniques.
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Workshops and Field Days:
- We hosted 2 field days/workshops on our farm bringing together 16 farmers, students, and agricultural professionals to discuss pest management and sustainable coconut propagation.
- Hands-on demonstrations included CRB detection and control methods, tissue culture propagation techniques, and nursery management practices.
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Community Outreach and Underserved Communities:
- Through Malama Sanctuary, we have targeted outreach efforts to underserved communities, including Native Hawaiian farmers and small-scale coconut growers.
- We partnered with Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers to extend our reach, ensuring educational materials and training sessions were accessible to a wider audience.
- Participants from these communities have expressed interest in acquiring tissue-cultured disease-resistant coconut palms, highlighting the importance of making these planting materials widely available.
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Long-Form Educational Videos:
- We have developed 2 long-form instructional videos detailing CRB identification and control and best practices for coconut farming.
- These videos will be shared on YouTube and Facebook as a lasting educational resource for farmers.
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Stakeholder and Researcher Engagement:
- We have collaborated with Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s CRB Response Team, providing updates on our research and contributing to broader pest management strategies.
- Researchers in sustainable agriculture have expressed interest in our findings, and discussions are ongoing about potential future collaborations on LY surveillance and control.
Next Steps:
- Expand social media efforts with more targeted educational content on coconut farming sustainability.
- Continue developing accessible training materials for producers, with a focus on practical application of research findings.
Through these outreach efforts, we are fostering a community of informed and proactive coconut growers who are better equipped to manage threats and implement sustainable agricultural practices.
Education and Outreach Outcomes
Recommendations for Education and Outreach:
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Utilize Multi-Platform Communication: Given the success of social media in engaging with a diverse audience, it's essential to continue leveraging platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. These platforms should be used to post regular updates, share findings, and provide practical tips on topics like disease prevention, pest control, and tissue culture propagation. Visual and interactive content, such as short-form videos and live Q&A sessions, can significantly boost engagement with stakeholders.
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Field Days and Workshops: Hosting field days, workshops, and community presentations at the farm provides valuable hands-on learning opportunities for producers, students, and agricultural professionals. These in-person events create opportunities to demonstrate research findings and engage directly with stakeholders in a collaborative environment. Continued emphasis on in-person events will foster stronger relationships and a better understanding of the research's practical implications.
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Targeting Underserved Communities: A key recommendation is to continue outreach to underserved agricultural communities. By partnering with local leaders and organizations such as Malama Sanctuary, you can maximize the reach of educational materials, ensuring that the information is accessible to all farmers, especially those who may not typically participate in mainstream agricultural events. This is essential to ensure equitable access to knowledge and resources.
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Creating Accessible Educational Materials: As part of the educational strategy, handouts, brochures, and video tutorials should be created for both new and experienced coconut growers. These materials should be designed in a way that’s easily understandable, even for those with limited agricultural experience. Incorporating both long-form and short-form video content, as well as translated materials where necessary, can broaden the impact.
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Engage Through Peer Networks: Partnerships with established networks, such as Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers and Small Farm Hawaii, will help amplify your educational outreach. By collaborating with these groups, you can ensure that your research findings and educational materials reach a larger number of stakeholders, thus enhancing the dissemination of agricultural research results.
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Assessment and Feedback: It’s important to regularly assess the impact of your outreach activities. This can be done through surveys and tracking metrics such as social media engagement, event attendance, and the number of disease-resistant coconut palms distributed to growers. This feedback will be valuable for evaluating the effectiveness of your educational strategies and adjusting them as necessary.
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Building Long-Term Sustainability: To ensure that the project continues to benefit stakeholders beyond the funding period, consider setting up a sustainable business model for the continued distribution of disease-resistant palms. This could involve offering palms at-cost to local producers, thus ensuring that there is a consistent supply of high-quality planting material for growers.
Assessment of Stakeholders' Understanding of Agricultural Sustainability:
Through the outreach activities, it is likely that the project has significantly improved stakeholders' understanding of agricultural sustainability. The regular educational content, combined with hands-on activities like field days and workshops, has likely deepened participants' awareness of the threats facing the coconut industry, such as the coconut rhinoceros beetle and lethal yellowing. Furthermore, the promotion of disease-resistant varieties as a sustainable solution has likely fostered greater interest in adopting sustainable farming practices that are more resilient to these threats.
As the project progresses, evaluating how these stakeholders have integrated the new knowledge into their practices will be critical in assessing the broader impact on agricultural sustainability. Tracking how many participants adopt these methods or request disease-resistant palms can provide insight into the project's success in shifting attitudes towards sustainability.
Coconut palm propagation
Coconut grove management
Coconut fertilization
Coconut pest management