Optimizing Tropical Organic Celery: On-Farm Research to Solve Chronic Pest and Disease Pressure to Stabilize Organic Celery Production in Hawaii

Commodities

• Vegetables: celery

Practices

• Education and Training: farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research
• Pest Management: prevention

Our project addresses a critical challenge for diversified organic farms in tropical climates: the instability of high-value crops like celery due to chronic, year-round pest and disease pressure. Organic celery production on our farm has proven elusive, despite high-quality results in occasional successful plantings. Our research question is: Can a locally tailored Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system overcome these severe pressures to stabilize and sustain high-yield organic celery production in Hawaii?

To solve this, our on-farm research will utilize bi-weekly planting cycles to conduct side-by-side comparisons employing various, distinct management strategies using a proactive IPM approach. We will measure the success of each method by quantitatively comparing pest/disease suppression, and, crucially, the resulting marketable yield and quality over multiple harvests.

The expected outcome is the establishment of a proven, low-input system that strategically employs rather than reactively applies pest management protocols, directly advancing sustainable agriculture by providing a stable, economically viable production model for a difficult tropical crop.

Project findings will be disseminated to other agricultural stakeholders through an on-farm field day demonstration, workshop or webinar, providing educational handouts reviewed by our expert Technical Advisor, and detailed protocols published in the final project report.

Objective 1: Characterize and Validate Limiting Pathogens and Pests (Diagnostic)

Collect and analyze symptomatic celery tissue and soil samples from failed plantings to definitively identify and characterize the primary fungal, bacterial, and nematode pathogens.

• Some potential pathogens include Pink Rot, Celery Early Blight, Septoria Apiicola, and Root Knot Nematode, any or a combination of these which may be directly responsible for chronic crop failure₅. This will involve working with a local lab (or the TA's affiliated lab) to confirm the specific disease pressure, providing a concrete baseline for evaluating the success of the IPM treatments.

2: Validate the Efficacy of Key Input Variables

Determine the individual impact of crucial soil management and input variables on celery health and pest/disease pressure. For each bi-weekly planting cycle, we will isolate and measure the effects of three factors:

• Mulching/Plastic: Compare celery plots grown with plastic or mulch against those grown on bare soil, assessing differences in weed suppression, soil temperature regulation, and moisture retention.
• Pre-Plant Fungicide: Compare plots treated with an organic-approved fungicide before planting against non-treated plots to evaluate preemptive disease control.
• Growth Cycle Fungicide: Compare plots inoculated with organic-approved fungicide during the growing cycle against non-inoculated plots to measure effects on plant vigor, root health, and nutrient availability.

3: Optimize and Quantify the Most Economically Viable Combination Protocol

To test the synergistic effects of combination treatments against the farm's conventional spray control to isolate the single, most resilient, and profitable organic IPM protocol. This objective specifically involves the simultaneous comparison of various combined strategies (e.g., mulching + fungicide, plastic + pre-planting fungicide, and so on) and comparing them against the standard farm practice.

• Analysis Focus: We will collect quantitative data on pest incidence (e.g., insect counts, disease ratings), resulting marketable yield (weight/quantity), and crop quality (stalk crispness, color).
• Economic Outcome: We will perform a comprehensive Cost of Production (COP) analysis for the most successful IPM combination protocols, directly calculating the dollars saved per acre by reducing chemical applications alongside the costs (labor, materials) of implementing the IPM strategy.

4: Synthesize Findings and Disseminate Actionable Protocols

To synthesize the successful IPM protocol into an accessible format and actively disseminate the findings to farmers, producers, and agricultural stakeholders throughout the Western region.

• Protocol Development: Compile the optimal combination treatment, application timing, and scouting techniques into a clear, step-by-step "Tropical Organic Celery IPM Protocol" suitable for peer-to-peer adoption.
• Outreach: Conduct at least one on-farm field day demonstration, webinar or workshop for local producers and collaborate with the Technical Advisor to review and distribute high-quality educational materials to supplement the final project report.