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Who should you call when you have a banana farm and a virus is killing your banana plants? Who should you call when you have a papaya farm and the fruit is badly damaged making the papaya unmarketable? Who should you call when your taro fields are infested with apple snails? Call C/M, the Chemical/Mechanical Control Section of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture's Plant Pest Control Branch. C/M continues to battle serious pests affecting major crops and agricultural lands in Hawaii. Some of the plant pest problems that C/M is currently working on include Banana Bunchy Top Virus, Papaya Ringspot Virus, and Apple Snail. In an effort to control these and other pest problems, C/M uses chemical (pesticides) and/or mechanical (roguing, trapping, digging, etc.) approaches to handle the matter. C/M has projects to control several species of noxious weeds. 79 species of plants are designated noxious by the Noxious Weed Control Law and Rules. Control projects are done cooperatively with landowners when noxious weeds infest private lands. Five-year agreements are entered with landowners in which the Department provides the herbicides and technical assistance, while the landowner provides the work force. Small infestations of noxious weeds on State lands are controlled by C/M personnel. C/M also is a member of the Association of Official Seed Certification Agency (AOSCA) and is designated as the official Hawaii agency for certifying seeds. Field inspection services provided ensures the production of high quality seed and propagating material so grown and distributed as to insure genetic identity and purity. Applications for field inspection services shall be received by C/M no less than 30 days after planting. For more information on seed application forms click here or calling C/M at (808) 973-9538. Fees for inspection services are charged. |