Progress 08/01/08 to 07/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Workshops to teach farmers and potential vanilla growers vanilla culture were given on the islands of Molokai, Oahu, and the Big Island. Current research findings were presented, recommendations on best management practices were made, and clean vanilla cuttings were distributed to workshop attendees to help them start growing vanilla with clean plants. Site visits to vanilla farms were made on Oahu and the Big Island. Samples of diseased vanilla were collected from sites on Molokai, Oahu and the Big Island. At each site, the crop was surveyed for disease, disease levels were estimated, and samples of infected plants were collected and brought back to the laboratory at UH Manoa. Fungi were isolated from the samples, purified, identified, and stored in culture tubes for future pathogenicity testing. Results of the isolations were sent back to the farmers along with recommendations to help manage and control disease. Meetings were held at the UH Manoa campus with individual farmers from Oahu, Molokai, and the Big Island who wanted to learn about vanilla culture. At each meeting a powerpoint presentation "Growing Vanilla in Hawaii" was made and best management practices and insect and disease control strategies were discussed to help farmers succeed in growing the plants and bringing the crop to harvest. A CD with the PowerPoint presentation "Growing Vanilla in Hawaii", and an informational handout entitled "Vanilla Research" with colored pictures were created, duplicated, and distributed to farmers and individuals interested in growing vanilla. Growers from Japan and from the Pacific Island Nation of Kiribati contacted us and we sent them information on growth and disease management through email, and also sent them copies of the handout "Vanilla Research" and the CD with the "Growing Vanilla in Hawaii" presentation. The grower in Kiribati already had clean tissue cultured vanilla plants and needed to know the best methods for growth and propagation of the vines. With input and collaboration from our laboratory, a handout with detailed instructions on how to pollinate the vanilla flower was made by Oahu County Agent Jari Sugano, and distributed to interested vanilla farmers on the island of Oahu. Without the proper pollination, the vanilla flower will not produce the seed pod, or bean, which is the end product or ultimate goal of raising vanilla. The information is available to anyone interested in growing vanilla. Presentations were made at the Kona Orchid Club shows on the Big Island of Hawaii and the Aiea and Honolulu Orchid Club show on Oahu. The shows draw hundreds of orchid enthusiasts, many of whom were interested in growing vanilla. Workshops and information on vanilla culture were presented at each show. Individuals learned how to grow vanilla as a backyard crop to bring in supplemental income, how to plant cuttings, and participants received clean vanilla cuttings to take home and grow. Current project findings were given to county extension agents to share with interested growers. The project was extremely successful as workshops, seminars, and outreach programs contacted hundreds of individuals. PARTICIPANTS: Janice Uchida, PI directed the research experiments, traveled to the neighbor islands to visit farms, conduct workshops, presented information at orchid shows, and meet with individual farmers at their farms. Mike Kawate, co PI, provide technical guidance and planning on regulatory, labeling, and registration protocols for fungicides used in the project. Chris Kadooka, plan and install experiments, propagate and inoculate plants, collect and analyze data, correspond with farmers, extension agents, and collaborators. Jari Sugano, county extension agent, Oahu. Provides service to farmers and individuals on the Island of Oahu. Growers interested in vanilla continue to contacted her for information on propagation and culture of the plant. She has also produced a guide to vanilla flower pollination with pictures and instructions to help farmers manually pollinate their vanilla flowers when they bloom. Steve Fukuda, county extension agent, Oahu. Collaborated with us and continues to help a vanilla grower on the north shore of Oahu. We made recommendations to him for disease management using cultural controls and so far the crop remains viable. Alton Arakaki, county extension agent, Molokai. Provided consulting a training on the culture of vanilla so that he could pass on the information to interested farmers on Molokai. Craig Elevitch, from the island of Hawaii is the editor of the Permanent Agriculture Resources. He recently completed the book "Specialty Crops for Pacific Islands" with a chapter on vanilla production. Craig consulted with Dr. Janice Uchida, who wrote the chapter on vanilla production that was used in the book. Ruth and Don Fukuchi, cooperators on the north shore of Oahu. Conducted several site visits to their farm, provided greenhouse construction specifications, clean plants, propagation recommendations, pest identification, and disease management strategies. Jim Reddekopp, owner of Hawaiian Vanilla Company. We visited his site several times, taking samples and making recommendations on vanilla culture. Joie Yuen and Darrin, from Oahu, provided consulting services on how best to maintain the plants they have, and how to prevent the introduction of disease. Taakena Redfern, Senior Agriculture Official at the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development in Kiribata. Her office received tissue cultured vanilla plants from Fiji, and are in the early stages of propagating the plants for future distribution to the public. Greg Datlof, Jim Pushaw, and Jerry Takaham, vanilla grower on the Big Island of Hawaii, Tony Costa and Glenn Nitta, vanilla grower on Oahu, Patty McCartney, vanilla grower on the island of Molokai, cooperators, we made site visits to farms, provided recommendations for growing vanilla to them. Tatsuya Oka, professor at Oita University in Japan, studying the economics of agrotourism, specifically the use of guided tours of agricultural facilities. Nick Sakovich, Volcano Garden Arts complex on the island of Hawaii. Provided outreach information and instruction on vanilla culture to backyard gardeners and interested people in Volcano. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include interested individuals, commercial nursery operations, county agents, public and private school teachers, and university and agricultural industry officials. Efforts include site visits to teach growers the methods of clean culture and organized workshops held to disseminate information to larger audiences. Also informational meetings were held with individuals that traveled to the University of Hawaii and met with us at our laboratory. We provided one on one instruction on vanilla culture and provided them with starting material for their vanilla operation. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Renovation work on the two greenhouse facilities used for the project greatly affected the project. Due to the limited greenhouse space available because of the renovation work on the greenhouses, the Inoculations Methods Test and the Pathogenicity Test of Disease Survey Isolates was not conducted. Instead, greenhouse space was utilized for the cultural methods and fungicide efficacy tests, since results from these tests will be directly applicable to vanilla production and would provide the most benefit the individual farmers. Pathogenicity of isolates collected from the disease survey. Eventually, other fungi isolated from diseased vanilla, should be tested for pathogenicity to vanilla, but because of space limitations, and the availability of a virulent Fusarium proliferatum isolate, this part of test was postponed until more space becomes available. Cultural Methods test: Clorox vs Non-Clorox treated plants. The test had to be conducted at the Magoon Greenhouse facility due to the ongoing renovation at the Pope Laboratory Greenhouse. Test was installed and allowed to run for one year instead of six months because natural infection and disease development was slow in the clean Magoon Greenhouse that was recently completely renovated. The Magoon Greenhouse is over a mile away and travel to the facility requires a car, thus monitoring of the tests was reduced. All of the seven tests initiated during this project period were scheduled to last for six months, however due to the slow pace of disease progression, all have been extended to allow more time for disease development. Greenhouse space for repeat tests was impacted by the extension of the initial tests. The objectives of the grant were written with the assumption that renovation work on both greenhouses would be completed in time for the installation of the tests on plants. Because the renovation work on the Pope Greenhouse facility is still not completed, we were not able to install the long term fungicide test because of lack of bench space for the plants.
Impacts
Cultural methods test to determine if a preplant dip in 10% Clorox increases the survival rate of vanilla cuttings was evaluated after one year. Thirty cuttings that received a preplant dip in 10% Clorox had an average disease infection rating of 2.6 after one year. The disease rating scale used: 1= clean; 2= 1 to 5 brown aerial roots, clean roots in the soil; 3= >6 brown aerial roots, brown roots in the soil; 4= No new shoot, or wilted flaccid vine, brown aerial roots and roots in the soil; 5= dead. The control group had an average disease rating of 2.7, not significantly different. Maxim is the only fungicide currently registered for use on vanilla, and is labeled as a preplant dip for cuttings. Disease development on thirty cuttings dipped in Maxim prior to planting was compared to untreated control cuttings. Average disease rating on untreated control plants was 3.2, while the Maxim treated plants averaged 2.6, indicating the preplant dip was beneficial to cutting survival. The test was repeated with control plants averaging 2.9, and Maxim treated plants averaging 2.2 on the disease scale. Nine fungicides were tested for efficacy in preventing disease development on vanilla. All of the fungicides were applied to the cuttings as a preventative spray. Rally (myclobutanil), Kaligreen (potassium bicarbonate), and Sovran (kresoxim-methyl) had disease levels of1.9, 2.0, and 2.1 respectively, and did well in preventing disease development. ZeroTol (hydrogen dioxide), Switch (cyprodinil + fludioxonil), and Vangard (cyprodinil) 2.7, 3.3, and 3.3 respectively on the disease scale, were not effective. The untreated control and the inoculated control plants had a disease rating of 2.5 and 2.9 respectively. The effect of rouging infected plants from the growing area was investigated. Disease incidence on the non rouged group was 3.3 on the disease scale, while the rouged group averaged 2.5. Rouging infected plants is an effective cultural method to control the spread of the disease in the greenhouse. Colletotrichum was isolated from diseased vanilla vines. Symptoms are different from what was observed previously when Fusarium infects vanilla. A phytotoxicity test was conducted to determine if Rally caused any burning or deformity on the young leaves and vines. At 2X and 4X the recommended ornamental rate, no phytotoxic effects were observed. Repeated freezing did not kill mold growing on cured beans. Air drying however was effective in preventing mold from growing on beans. Dipping infected vanilla cuttings in 20% Clorox was not an effective treatment to kill Fusarium in infected vanilla vines. This result showed that once the Fusarium infects the vines, it is extremely difficult to control. Recommendations to keep vanilla plants away from other orchids that harbor the Fusarium fungus were made to a cooperating grower. Doing so prevented his plants from becoming infected. The grower on the north shore of Oahu had a serious disease problem, we recommended chemical and cultural methods to preserve his crop. Implementing the recommendations preserved his crop. Research findings will continue to be shared with growers.
Publications
- Uchida, J.Y. 2011. Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) by Janice Uchida, Chapter in the book by C. Elevitch (ed.) Specialty Crops for Pacific Islands. Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR), OP Box 428, Holualoa, Hawaii 96725, USA, p. 497-512.
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Progress 08/01/09 to 07/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: An informational Powerpoint presentation which covers the history, culture, and bean production of vanilla was made to two new vanilla grower from the island of Oahu. After the presentation, we provided the growers a detailed vanilla production handout and also some clean vanilla cutting for them to start their operation. At last check the plants have all germinated and are growing well. The informational handout was also given to another interested grower from the island of Molokai, along with clean vanilla cuttings for her to start her operation. Her cuttings also germinated and are growing well. Another interested grower contacted us from the island of Hawaii and we sent him the informational handout. With input and collaboration from our laboratory, an informational handout with detailed instruction on how to pollinate the vanilla flower is being developed by Oahu County Agent Jari Sugano, for distribution to all interested vanilla farmers. Through her contacts with vanilla farmers on the windward side of the island of Oahu, she saw a need for this vital information. Without the proper pollination, the vanilla flower will not produce the seed pod, or bean, which is the end product or ultimate goal of raising vanilla. The publication is nearly complete with distribution expected by the next reporting period. Information on vanilla culture was presented at the Kona Orchid Club show on the Big Island of Hawaii. The show draws hundreds of orchid enthusiasts, many of whom were interested in growing vanilla. Interested individuals could learn how to grow vanilla as a backyard crop to bring in supplemental income. Current project findings were shared with county extension agents to pass on the interested growers. Site visits were also made to individual farms to assess production methods and provide recommendations on culture and management of the crop. PARTICIPANTS: Joie Yuen and Darrin, new vanilla growers on the island of Oahu. Patty is a new vanilla grower on the island of Molokai. Jim Pushaw on the island of Hawaii is another vanilla grower. Ruby Ovit and Denise Harris are an administrator and instructor at Hawaii Baptist Academy, a private school on the island of Oahu. They are using the successful cultivation of vanilla as a tool to teach elementary school students basic plant biology, the importance of agriculture in the community, and the potential of vanilla as a high value cash crop for farmers in Hawaii and the Pacific Basin. Jari Sugano, county extension agent, Oahu. Provides service to farmers and individuals on the windward side of the island. Growers interested in vanilla continue to contacted her for information on propagation and culture of the plant. Research results we found were shared with her to pass onto the vanilla growers she is helping. She has also produced a guide to vanilla flower pollination with pictures and instructions to help farmers manually pollinate their vanilla flowers when they bloom. This is vital information as Hawaii lacks the natural pollinator of vanilla flowers, thus all flowers must be hand pollinated by the farmer in order to obtain vanilla bean formation. Steve Fukuda, county extension agent, Oahu. Collaborated with us and continues to help a vanilla grower on the north shore of Oahu. The operation is producing beans and the challenge now is to control disease levels in the greenhouse and maintain bean production at a steady level. We have made recommendations to him for disease management using cultural controls and so far the crop remains viable. Kona Orchid Club members from the Big Island of Hawaii. Many members are growing vanilla as part of their orchid collection and they are a vital partner in increasing the information pool on vanilla culture and passing on the information to new individuals interested in growing this valuable crop. County agents from the other islands and interested individuals from the community frequently contact us for advice about vanilla culture. We readily provide information to them and will continue to do so. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audience include interested individuals, commercial nursery operations, county agents, public and private school teachers, and university and agricultural industry officials. Efforts include site visits to teach growers the methods of clean culture and organized workshops held to disseminate information to larger audiences. Also informational meetings were held with individuals that traveled to the University of Hawaii and met with us at our laboratory. We provided one on one instruction on vanilla culture and provided them with starting material for their vanilla operation. During the report period our efforts have been concentrated on preparing, installing, and managing the seven cultural and chemical tests on 590 vanilla plants. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: All of the seven tests initiated during this project period were scheduled to last for six months, however due to the slow pace of disease progression, all have been extended to allow more time for disease development. Greenhouse space for repeat tests was impacted by the extension of the initial tests. The current tests are ending and will provide space for repeat tests and the installation of new tests to complete the objectives of the grant.
Impacts
Vanilla vines with dying apical tips were observed occurring on stock vanilla plants in the University of Hawaii greenhouse. Several dozen tips were collected, brought back to the laboratory, examined microscopically for signs of fungal infection, then plated on water agar to isolate disease causing agents. Fusarium emerged from 96 percent of the plated specimens, confirming that it was causing the premature tip death in greenhouse grown plants. As a possible treatment for the afflicted plants, two tests with Clorox were run to determine if dipping the cuttings in 10% or 20% Clorox would kill the pathogen. Even with a 2 minute dip in 20% Clorox, the pathogen persisted, thus proving that the Fusarium is an extremely difficult disease causing agent to control. Several dozen new cultures of Fusarium were isolated from diseased vanilla from two sources in the Manoa valley on the island of Oahu. The cultures were identified, added to the collection, and placed in test tubes for long term storage. Two cultural methods tests were installed, the first test compared treating vanilla cuttings with 10% Clorox prior to planting with cuttings planted without the Clorox treatment. The second test compared the effect of rouging infected plants from the propagation area. Two fungicide tests were also installed, the first test investigates the effect of the fungicide Maxim on plant health. Maxim is the only fungicide currently registered with vanilla on its label. It is used as a preplant dip to prevent infection by the pathogen Fusarium. Cuttings were dipped in the fungicide, planted in clean pots and maintained in the greenhouse. A group that did not receive a fungicide dip serves as a control for the experiment. The second fungicide test installed was a screening test of seven fungicides for efficacy in preventing infection by Fusarium. The fungicides were sprayed seven days prior to inoculation with a solution containing live Fusarium spores. All tests except the fungicide screening test were repeated, with the duplicate test running concurrently with each test. Limitations in greenhouse space prohibited the installation of the duplicate fungicide screening test. The current tests contain a total of 590 plants and that is the maximum that the limited greenhouse space can contain. As tests are ended, the fungicide screening test can be repeated and new tests will be installed.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/01/08 to 07/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: When funding was restored clean vanilla cuttings for stock plants for testing was begun. Over 800 vanilla cuttings were started at the end of 2008, and after three months, cuttings were rooted and healthy. Plants were used in four pathogenicity tests to screen Fusarium cultures previously isolated from diseased vanilla plants. Both spray and drench methods were used to inoculate vanilla plants. Plants were inoculated with Fusarium at 1 million spores per milliliter. Disease development from Fusarium is slow and several months passed before plants showed signs of infection. At the end of the screening, a pathogenic isolate was found was used in later fungicide efficacy tests. Project findings were shared with county extension agents to pass on the interested growers. Site visits were also made to individual farms to assess production methods and provide recommendations on culture and management of the crop. PARTICIPANTS: Alton Arakaki, county extension agent, Molokai. Coordinated the training session held on Molokai. There were 10 individuals interested in growing vanilla at the training session. Alton also attended the training session and was able to learn the clean culture techniques we have been using to cultivate vanilla successfully here on Oahu. He will be able to train new growers on the island of Molokai as interest there increases. Steve Fukuda, county extension agent, Oahu. Collaborated with us and has been helping a vanilla grower on the north shore of Oahu. They have been growing vanilla for several years and were able to produce their first crop of beans in 2008. Steve Fukuda, County agent, Oahu. We've shown Steve how to propagate the vanilla and he has returned for further information about how to tend to the crop as it matures. He has become adept at vanilla production as is seen in the success of the operation which he has overseen for the past several years. Ruth and Don Fukuchi on the north shore of Oahu have been growing vanilla since 2007. We continue to help them with their operation. Providing propagation recommendations, pest identification, and disease management strategies. Jari Sugano, county extension agent, Oahu. Provides service to farmers and individuals on the windward side of the island. Several growers interested in vanilla have contacted her for information on propagation and culture of the plant. Research results we found were shared with her to pass onto the vanilla growers she is helping. County agents from the other islands and interested individuals from the community frequently contact us for advice about vanilla culture. We readily provide information to them and will continue to do so. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audience include interested individuals, commercial nursery operations, county agents, and university and agricultural industry officials. Efforts include site visits to teach growers the methods of clean culture and organized workshops held to disseminate information to larger audiences. We have conducted both site visits and workshops during the reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Tests initiated using the pathogenic isolate chosen from the pathogencity tests continue. The inoculated plants are taking longer than expected to become infected and the duration of the rouging and Maxim fungicide tests will be extended until disease levels on inoculated plants increase.
Impacts
Diseased vanilla samples were received from two Oahu growers. Infected tissue was plated on water agar plates and isolations were made of possible disease causing agents. A Colletotrichum and a Fusarium were isolated from samples from a farm on the north shore of Oahu, and several Fusarium were isolated from samples provided by the other grower. All cultures were grown in pure culture, identified, and stored in test tubes for future pathogenicity testing. Photographs were taken of the disease symptoms as this was the first time Colletotrichum was isolated from diseased vanilla vines. Symptoms are different from what was observed previously when Fusarium infects vanilla. A site visit was made to the farm on the north shore to assess the extent of the disease infection on the vanilla crop. The farm had been in production for about four years and the vines were mature and bearing beans. Disease infection on the crop was extensive, but the vines were still able to produce flowers and beans, though at a reduced rate. Photographs were taken to document disease incidence and samples were taken back to the laboratory for analysis. Both Fusarium and Colletotrichum were isolated from the diseased vines. Recommendations for disease control and management were made to the grower. Also, a prototype system to increase nutrient uptake to the vanilla plants through aerial roots was designed and passed on to the farmer. Increasing the vigor of the plants even though they are infected, will help the plant to better tolerate the disease and continue to produce beans for harvest. Recommendations for fertilizer rates, fungicide application, and disease management strategies were also passed on to the farmer. The vanilla sample from the north shore nursery included eleven mature beans, a rare find, because mature beans produced by Hawaii farmers are a valuable commodity. Many vanilla growers in Hawaii struggle to get plants to the bean production stage so these beans could not be wasted. They were collected and used for testing post harvest disease control measures. Washing and storing the beans in a clean plastic bag was not effective and mold soon grew on the beans. Freezing the beans in -20C freezer did not kill the mold. Cleaning and allowing the beans to air dry for thirty seven days was effective in preventing infection. As a possible control measure, Rally with active ingredient myclobutanil was tested on young vanilla vines. In tests on other orchid genera, Rally had proven to be effective in controlling Fusarium. A phytotoxicity test was conducted to determine if Rally caused any burning or deformity on the young leaves and vines. Fungicide solutions were mixed at 2X and 4X the recommended ornamental rate and sprayed on 3 month old vanilla vines with young fleshy leaves. After 2 weeks, no phytotoxic effects were observed.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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