Conferences
Enhancing the Adoption of Crop Insurance for Coffee in Hawaii by Integrating Pest and Disease Management
Andrea Kawabata, Shannon Sand, Matthew Miyahira, and Stuart Nakamoto
Summary
Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) and Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) are the most devastating pests of coffee. Hawaii growers are diverse, socially disadvantaged, and underserved producers who have no experience with these pests. If untreated, yield losses typically range from 30% to 100% with tree loss. The production risk is staggering, but proper management strategies and crop insurance are tools to help mitigate that risk.
Teachable moments provide great opportunities to reach producers about crop insurance, which producers otherwise find is a boring topic. Recently, three such opportunities arose for the Hawaii coffee industry with the arrival of CBB in 2010, CLR in 2020, and the volcanic eruptions of Kilauea and Mauna Loa. The impact of using these teachable moments is reflected in the number of policies in 2022 compared to pre-CBB (2009); policies increased by 329% (31 to 102) for coffee fruit and 400% (13 to 52) for coffee tree coverage.
Under the current project, in 2021 and 2022 we piggybacked crop insurance education with coffee and CLR management events including in-person workshops/field days, live and recorded webinars, conference displays and presentations, printed materials, website and newsletters, farm doctor visits, and individual/small group meetings. We educated producers statewide about CLR and its management, sprayer calibration, the Federal worker protection standard, and crop insurance with recordkeeping. Post-event evaluations and a follow-up survey have helped us assess producers’ success in understanding the topics, assessing the alternatives, and ultimately, implementing the methods and tools in managing their risks.
Presentation Materials
Details
| Conference | 2023 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference |
| Presentation Type | Poster |