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CTAHR Alumni & Friends

Issue 20   |   November 29, 2012   |   Archive

News & Events

How to Spray to Keep Basil Pests Away

Boom sprayer for basilWe’re heading into the season when basil downy mildew is more prevalent, so it’s a perfect time for the next episode of the Basil Pest Management Road Show! Even better, the 2 educational events will both feature Chinese (Mandarin) translations. The Downy Mildew Field Day will be offered on Dec. 7 from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Waimanalo Experiment Station. It’s offered in coordination with CTAHR’s IR-4 program and the Basil SWAT Team to showcase basil downy mildew symptoms, fungicide screening trials, and the IR-4 program’s ATV-mounted spray boom (pictured). It will cover available risk management measures to manage downy mildew this season, demonstrate calibration of a boom system, and show growers how to establish effective field trials at their farms. The Basil Pest Management Workshop and Spray Calibration Demonstration will take place Dec. 14 from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Urban Garden Center. This session will address basil pest management and pesticide application priorities. It will cover spray techniques and how to calibrate an orchard gun, pesticide calibration and pesticide and crop groupings. Major basil pests and best management practices will also be covered, along with the Kunia Irradiator project and the potential of treating basil for export. There will be trade show vendors from agricultural chemical companies and various government agencies. Both events are approved for 2.0 CEU in Private category 1, Commercial categories 1a and 10. Please call Lynn at 622-4185 to RSVP for these events. For information or to request an auxiliary aid or service (e.g., sign language interpreter, designated parking, or materials in alternate format), contact Jensen Uyeda (juyeda@hawaii.edu) or Jari Sugano (suganoj@ctahr.hawaii.edu) at (808) 622-4185 at least seven days before the activity/event.

Learning About the Lungworm

Rat lungwormEveryone is invited to a short learning evening about thebiology and behaviors of the rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis). The nearly invisible parasitic nematode lives in the lungs of rats and can be passed to intermediate hosts—slugs and snails—and then to humans if the slugs and snails are consumed on uncooked produce. The presentation will discuss how to manage it better in gardens, on farms, and when consuming uncooked produce at home. The medical issues of diagnosis and treatment will also be covered: Symptoms can include coma and even death, in rare cases, so it behoves us to know how to deal with it. The learning session will be held at the CTAHR Cooperative Extension Service Building on the UH Maui College Campus, 310 Kaahumanu Ave. Bldg. 205 on Thursday, Nov. 8, from 5:45 to 7:30 p.m. There is no cost. For questions about rat lungworm, contact the Maui District Health Office at (808) 984-8213; for questions about the meeting location specifically, get in touch with Luisa Castro at (808) 244-3242 ext 232.

Grants & Awards

Fanfare at the Farm Bureau

Jari Sugano accepting award and Farm Bureau conventionThe Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation recently honored three members of the CTAHR ‘ohana at their convention. Donna Ching (FCS Extension) was given a Special Recognition Award for her 25 years of service as Program Director of the Agricultural Leadership Program and her “tremendous service and commitment to supporting the development of leaders throughout Hawai‘i’s agricultural sector.” Sylvia Yuen was also awarded Special Recognition for her exemplary service to CTAHR in serving as Interim Dean and effecting marked improvement in the five areas on which she focused during her tenure: strengthening organizational and fund capacity, enhancing college culture, increasing the number of students served, fostering collaboration, and tracking progress. And PEPS Extension Agent Jari Sugano (pictured) was honored with the Outstanding Friend of Farmer Award for her continued focus on doing her best for the good of her clientele, offering numerous and varied workshops, field trials, and other learning opportunities for her stakeholders with skill, energy, and a positive attitude.

Paniolo Pride

Ashley Stokes accepting Cattlewoman of the Year AwardAshley Stokes (HNFAS) was honored by the Hawaii Cattleman’s Council as the 2012 Hawaii Cattlewoman of the Year at their Annual Meeting at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel. Ashley conducts numerous workshops on beef herd health and welfare across the state, is an active participant in CTAHR’s Beef Group, and is working with ranchers to develop livestock shipping guidelines to insure the well-being of cattle in transit. She has been an active partner in the implementation of initiatives that support not just beef but all livestock farmers and ranchers, including the formation of the Hawaii Livestock Farmers Coalition, and has helped to improve communication among all stakeholders. Read more about Ashley’s story on the national Faces of Agriculture blog!

Spotlight on Our Community

Tilling the Soil of a Great Career

CTAHR students at career fairOn the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 14, students gathered in Gilmore Hall for the CTAHR Career Conference, which focused on careers in the agriculture and environmental resources management sectors. Representatives from numerous state and federal agencies and private companies hosted 20-minute sessions in which they shared the work their agency or organization does and gave pointers for working in agriculture and environmental resources management careers. The U.S. and Hawai‘i Departments of Agriculture, Monsanto, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Kupu Hawaii, Dow Agrosciences, the Peace Corps, the Agribusiness Incubator Program, and CTAHR’s Cooperative Extension were among the many offering help and advice. Topics ranged from agriculture in the public sector to the seed industry to natural resource management and local food production. In addition to these informative sessions, students had the opportunity to chat with companies and agencies during the intermission and networking break halfway through the program. Thank you to all who attended the career conference, ASAO, and Dr. Traci Sylva for organizing the event, and to the CTAHR Club for providing volunteers that day. Mahalo to DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto for providing refreshments and to the workshop presenters who so generously shared useful information with the students.

Red Cross Heroes

Jim Hollyer in Red Cross uniformJim Hollyer (PEPS/ADAP) is starting his holiday giving early this year—he’s part of a second wave of American Red Cross volunteers from Hawai‘i who have gone to the northeast to help with relief efforts in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Jim, who has served as a Red Cross volunteer in the past, will be volunteering this time for about two weeks, doing “whatever they ask me to do,” he affirms. Want to help the Red Cross help Sandy’s victims without leaving the Islands? Donate here!

B-Positive!

CTAHR student at blood driveIn Hawai‘i, about 200 blood donors are needed each day to meet the blood needs of patients statewide. CTAHR’s been sponsoring annual drives to support the Blood Bank of Hawaii for eight years—and this year, the college sponsored two! At the event just past a total of 55 pints were donated; with the 91 pints collected in March of this year, the college has contributed an impressive 146 pints of blood this year alone! And because each pint can be divided into three usable components, as many as 438 lives were possibly saved by the donations collected in CTAHR's drives in 2012. In fact, the college has hosted the most successful one-day blood drives at UH-Manoa in both the fall and spring semesters! The Blood Bank and CTAHR truly appreciate the time and generosity of everyone who contributed to this successful event—heartfelt thanks to those who came out to donate blood, and mahalo to ASAO and the scholarship recipients who helped throughout the day to provide a positive and comfortable environment for those who came to donate.

Save Our Seeds!

Class on taro propagationOver 180 enthusiastic gardeners and farmers attended the series of two-day seed-saving and production workshops held on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, Moloka‘i, and the Big Island. The workshops, part of a statewide Hawaii Public Seed Initiative, aim to help develop community seed networks and seed banks. Co-sponsored by the Kohala Center of Hawai‘i Island and CTAHR, they were funded by a grant from the CERES trust fund. CTAHR faculty who assisted with the training included Glenn Teves (TPSS, Moloka‘i), Russell Nagata (Hawai‘i Island), Ray Uchida (O‘ahu), and Hector Valenzuela (PEPS). The workshops also offered optional third-day tours of local farms, which in O‘ahu included lively visits with Jim Brewbaker (TPSS) and the organic seed production plots of Ted Radovich (TPSS). Here, Jerri Konanui, traditional practitioner, talks about taro varieties and propagation. Stay tuned, as plans are underway for year two of this educational project.

New Publications

Not Off the Radar

COF Homes Service ReportCOF and the Homeless Programs Office of the Hawai‘i State Department of Human Services have just released the Homeless Service Utilization Report: Hawai‘i 2012. The report, by Sarah Yuan and Ivette Rodriguez Stern (both COF) and Hong Vo, provides the most current data on individuals and households who accessed homeless services and on the state’s overall service utilization in the 2012 fiscal year, based on agency-entered data in the Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS). For instance, in the past year the Shelter and Outreach Programs served a total of 13,980 individuals statewide; the number of individuals served dropped slightly for the second year in a row after several years of increases; children under 18 comprised 25% of all homeless service users; and Caucasians and Hawaiians/part-Hawaiians represented nearly two-thirds of the total client population. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Hawai‘i KIDS COUNT provided the funding that made the report possible.

CTAHR Gets Social

Image of CTAHR facebook pageOMG—CTAHR’s on Facebook! Check out the page as it’s being populated with items from our Impact Reports and our other web pages, as well as various news items from other UH sites. Thanks to Miles Hakoda, Elsie Kawahara, and Kathy Lu for getting the page up and running. They’ve given CTAHR a boost into the exciting world of social media, where “going viral” doesn’t have anything to do with the spread of a plant disease!