CBB Repel: Safeguarding the Prosperity of the Small Farm Hawaiian Coffee Industry

This USDA/NIFA Phase I will focus on developing CBB Repel, a novel organic, semiochemical pest management tool to support the small coffee grower of Hawaii--and the globe--by offering protection for their crops against the devastation caused by CBB. By controlling coffee berry borer infestations, we will directly support small scale coffee farms which are often family owned and relied upon as the livelihood, not only in Hawaii, but also for 20 million families around the world. Providing alternative pest management strategies to farmers will ensure food security by increasing harvesting yields from coffee crops, providing the maximum amount of product available to be sold for profit and economic growth of the rural community. With the concerns of the effect of conventional chemical insecticides on the health and wellness of people and the environment, there has been a call to reduce insecticide usage. With ever stricter restrictions on allowable pesticide residue levels being placed on imported foods, our product would ensure food safety by reducing, if not eliminating, the frequency of use and amount of synthetic chemical insecticides sprayed directly on coffee, allowing small scale farmers to produce coffee without residues, and to continue to export their crop around the world. Subsequently, the rural communities in which these farmers live and produce their crop would see the economic benefits of increased exportation and consumption of their local products. The reduction in pesticide use would not only protect the health of the workers responsible to applying these control methods, but would reduce costs and time spent actively attempting to control pest insects. Additionally, the reduction of toxic pesticide use would benefit farmers in Hawaii as well as tropical coffee-producing countries, where protective measures against pesticides may not be desirable (e.g. too hot), or even possible, due to cost restrictions from buying protective gear and the increase in time required to spray. The ultimate beneficiary of this technology will be the consumer, by having coffee beans with no insecticide residuals, and of better quality (i.e., undamaged, with low incidence of pathogenic microorganism and related contaminants, like aflatoxins) and taste.