Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Cooperative Extension Service (CES) personnel conducted various educational activities. Nine vog presentations were provided to 291 people, including CES Master Gardeners to network the information to the general public. Presentations included photos of damaged plants, causes of vog damage, and management strategies. A video interview with CES agent Kelvin Sewake on "What is Vog" was broadcast nationally via Fox News. Growers were introduced to key government agencies, including the USDA Farm Service Agency, for stabilizing crop disasters through government disaster assistance programs. CES conducted and completed a survey titled, "Protea Crop Damage and Loss Assessment Survey." The compiled survey results were presented during community meetings and to Hawaii's state legislators and congressional delegation. Testimonies were provided by CES personnel on two separate occasions to a State of Hawaii House Special Committee on Vog Effects. Information from the protea survey provided the only economic crop loss data available at that time, and that data was included in a final Special Committee report. Mr. Sewake presented vog information at a multi-agency workshop in Hilo on Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning organized by the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN). Twenty-eight attendees represented 18 government agencies. This meeting was conducted to help in the process of establishing appropriate disaster emergency plans for local agriculture. As a member on Hawaii Governor's Statewide Task Force on Vog, Mr. Sewake provided updated agricultural information to task force members annually. Key government leaders represented 26 county, state and federal agencies working cooperatively on the problem. A CES publication, "Volcanic Emissions Injury to Plant Foliage," was distributed in print form to over 1,000 people, disseminated via a Plant Disease E-Newsletter via the world wide web, and was made available from the University of Hawaii at Manoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Rresources (CTAHR) publications website. Field demonstration trials were established in two locations to mitigate the effects of vog on plants. An iTrans SO2 sensor was re-configured to turn on an irrigation system at an established preset SO2 concentration level. The sensor would activate a delay relay timer alternating the irrigation continuously between an on- and off-cycle until SO2 levels dropped to below the preset point. Intermittent overhead irrigation might provide SO2 protection 24/7. Preliminary unreplicated tests of SO2 concentrations versus time of exposure on lettuce were conducted to begin to better understand the plant's response to S02 to refine mitigation measures. Monitoring of sulfur dioxide was established in key locations to monitor the environment for plants as well as livestock, since high SO2 levels could possibly indicate high levels of accompanying fluorine that could eventually enter forage plants and be detrimental to livestock. Animals in vog-affected areas have shown some early signs of clinical fluoridosis. PARTICIPANTS: Individual participants on this project included: Dr. Wayne Nishijima, Associate Dean and Associate Director of Extension - Overall administration of project. Mr. Kelvin Sewake, County Extension Agent - Coordinated project activities with co-PI's, conducted educational presentations in affected communities, conducted preliminary field trials, purchased gas monitors, established sulfur dioxide monitors in key locations, communicated with government leaders. Dr. Mark Thorne, Range Management Specialist - Established sulfur dioxide monitoring and sampling of forage grasses for fluoridosis in cattle. Mr. Michael DuPonte, County Extension Agent - Observing and monitoring poultry for egg laying problems. Partner organizations included: the Hawaii Departments of Agriculture, Health, Education, Public Safety, Land and Natural Resources, University of Hawaii's Medical School, and Civil Defense. Federal Agencies included the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Volcanoes National Park, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Pacific Disaster Center. County agencies included Hawaii and Maui Counties' Office of the Mayor, and Hawaii County Fire Department and Civil Defense. Collaborators and contacts included: Dr. Scot Nelson, Specialist in Plant Pathology, who uploaded the vog publication and photos on his website. Mr. Charles Nelson, agriculture equipment development working supervisor, who assisted with the set up of the SO2 sensor and timers. Dr. Donald Thomas, Geochemist, Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes, provided fluoride analysis on forage grasses. CES master gardeners who volunteered their time to educate the general public. TARGET AUDIENCES: Vog-affected farmers and livestock producers mainly on the south and south western part of the Big Island of Hawaii along with the general public were provided with information individually via publications and by direct contacts. Government agency leaders and community information providers with the CES Master Gardener program were provided with vog updates, information, and publications through workshops, meetings, and individually. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Due to cash flow problems, growers were assisted in obtaining government financial assistance. By increasing farmers' awareness of federal and state agencies that provide crop disaster insurance and loans, by having them submit applications, and by cooperating with agencies offering assistance, approximately 23 vog-affected protea growers applied for assistance from USDA's Farm Service Agency who would not have otherwise even known about the program. Information provided by the "Protea Crop Damage and Loss Assessment Survey," along with protea farmers communicating with Hawaii's political leaders, resulted in a U.S. Declaration of Disaster paving the way for federal disaster funding. Another result of the information shared with Hawaii's political leaders is that the vog information was included in drafting many of the 19 House Bills and Resolutions for consideration by Hawaii's legislature. By serving as a member of the Governor's Task Force on Vog, information and guidance on agriculturally-related issues were provided in which the task force based their actions to address the problem. Through the extensive dissemination of information including photos of vog-damaged plants, many farmers have learned to recognize vog damage symptoms versus crop damage related to biotic diseases or other abiotic causes. However, although growers have increased awareness and knowledge of vog, best management practices on farms have been limited because of other inhibiting factors. Limiting factors included lack of irrigation water compounded by drought conditions that plagued the affected region and the lack of immediate cash reserves to invest in new practices. Despite the educational assistance provided to farmers, many of them, especially affected flower farmers, lost the majority of their production and eventually gave up on producing their crop due to the on-going and devastating damage caused by the high volcanic emissions since March 2008. Some farmers re-planted what they considered to be vog-tolerant crops, such as coffee. By the end of 2010, many others gave up on the business altogether and sought other means of employment. The lack of cash flow from devastated crops and other limiting factors forced many farmers to look for other means of income. However, in 2011, SO2 levels dropped significantly lower to about half of the 2008 levels and as a result, crops were beginning to return. Protea plants that remained in fields began to re-grow and most other crops, including vegetables, were not affected much this past year by SO2. As the flouride situation on livestock was studied and forage grasses analyzed, preliminary results suggested that significant amounts of fluoride were being deposited on forage grasses and possibly taken up by those plants. These results seemed to be consistent with flouridosis symptoms observed in livestock. More recently, however, one report indicated improvements in livestock behavior and health abnormalities. Some of these problems were resolved apparently by nutritional supplements. Animal birth weights, teeth formation, and bone structures seemed to have improved.
Publications
- Nelson, S. and Sewake, K. February 2009. Volcanic emissions injury to plant foliage. The Plant Doctor enews, University of Hawaii at Manoa. https://sites.google.com/site/scotnelson/vog-injury
- Nelson, S. and Sewake, K. (August 2008). Volcanic Emissions Injury to Plant Foliage. University of Hawaii at Manoa, CTAHR, PD-47. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/PD-47.pdf
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Cooperative Extension Service (CES) personnel provided educational presentations on vog. In addition to providing individual assistance to farmers on vog, information was also presented to 59 CES master gardeners in Hilo and Maui. Master Gardener volunteers provided agricultural information and assistance to homeowners. Providing these volunteers with vog information was a way of networking the information to more information providers in various offices in vog-affected locations who could in turn disseminate that information to the public. A video interview was done by Fox News Channel's Anita Vogel and a brief story on "What is Vog" was broadcast nationally. CES agent Kelvin Sewake presented vog information at a multi-agency workshop in Hilo on Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning organized by the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN). EDEN is a collaborative multi-state effort to provide the public with information on disaster preparedness, recovery, and mitigation. Sewake's presentation included the importance of local agriculture and emergency preparedness; planning and response needs; types of local agricultural responders; and incident command system. Twenty-eight attendees included directors, emergency responders, and other officials representing 18 government agencies. This meeting was conducted to help in the process of establishing and refining appropriate disaster emergency plans for local agriculture. Sewake provided agricultural updates to Hawaii's Governor Lingle's Statewide Task Force on Vog regarding the damaging effects of vog in affected communities, future vog research, and on the problems experienced by livestock producers. Information was disseminated via the publication "Volcanic Emissions Injury to Plant Foliage" to an additional 250 people during this reporting period. A demonstration trial was established to mitigate the effects of vog on orchids. An iTrans SO2 sensor was set up to turn on an irrigation system at an established preset SO2 concentration level in the greenhouse. The sensor would activate the irrigation system's solenoid valve alternating it between an on and off cycle until SO2 levels dropped to below the set point. By providing intermittent overhead irrigation water to the crop during periods of high SO2 levels, the crop should be provided adequate protection from the burning effects of SO2. This automated system would allow for constant 24/7 crop protection from harmful SO2 gas whether the farmer is there or not. To monitor the environment for livestock, an SO2 monitor was placed downwind of Halema'uma'u crater by CES range management specialist Dr. Mark Thorne because high SO2 levels could possibly indicate high levels of accompanying fluorine that could eventually enter plants. Forage grasses high in fluoride could be detrimental to livestock, and animals in the downwind area had been showing some early signs of clinical fluoridosis. Symptoms included mottled teeth, loss of bone structure, and other problems. Forage samples were collected and submitted for laboratory analysis for possible correlation between high flouride and animal illnesses. PARTICIPANTS: Individual participants on project included: Dr. Wayne Nishijima, Associate Dean and Associate Director of Extension - Overall administration of project. Mr. Kelvin Sewake, County Extension Agent - Coordinated project activities with co-PI's, conducted educational presentations in affected communities, conducted preliminary field trials, purchased gas monitors, established sulfur dioxide monitors in key locations, communicated with government leaders. Dr. Mark Thorne, Range Management Specialist - Established sulfur dioxide monitoring and sampling of forage grasses for fluoridosis in cattle. Mr. Michael DuPonte, County Extension Agent - Observing and monitoring poultry for egg laying problems. Partner organizations included: the Hawaii Departments of Agriculture, Health, Education, Public Safety, Land and Natural Resources, University of Hawaii's Medical School, and Civil Defense. Federal Agencies included the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Volcanoes National Park, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Pacific Disaster Center. County agencies included Hawaii and Maui Counties' Office of the Mayor, and Hawaii County Fire Department and Civil Defense. Collaborators and contacts included: Dr. Scot Nelson, Specialist in Plant Pathology, who uploaded the vog publication and photos on his website. Mr. Charles Nelson, agriculture equipment development working supervisor, who assisted with the set up of the SO2 sensor and timers. Dr. Donald Thomas, Geochemist, Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes, provided fluoride analysis on forage grasses. CES master gardeners who volunteered their time to educate the general public. TARGET AUDIENCES: Vog-affected farmers and livestock producers mainly on the south and south western part of the Big Island of Hawaii along with the general pubic were provided with information individually via publications and by direct contacts. Government agency leaders and community information providers with the CES Master Gardener program were provided with vog updates, information, and publications through workshops, meetings, and individually. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Many farmers and the general public have been educated in recognizing vog damage symptoms on plants in comparison to other plant disease symptoms. However, despite of the educational assistance provided to farmers, many of them, especially affected flower farmers, lost the majority of their production and eventually gave up on producing their crop due to the on-going and devastating damage caused by the high volcanic emissions since March 2008. Some farmers considered re-planting what they considered to be vog-tolerant crops, such as coffee. Others gave up on the business altogether and sought other means of employment. The lack of cash flow from devastated crops and other limiting factors forced many farmers to look for other means of income. As the flouride situation on livestock was further studied and forage grasses analyzed, preliminary results suggested that significant amounts of fluoride were being deposited on forage grasses and possibly taken up by those plants. These results seemed to be consistent with flouridosis symptoms observed in livestock. These findings warranted further testing. While many farmers are still suffering the effects of vog, the total amount of emissions from Halema'uma'u has decreased steadily to about half of the level that it was at the onset in March 2008. This has provided some relief for farmers, especially vegetable farmers who although still experience occasional damage, have learned which vegetables are more vog-tolerant and know during which season or time of year to expect heavy vog. Poultry, which was noted in the previous report to be experiencing lower egg-laying production, did not have that problem this past year.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Some outcomes described here include activities prior to September 1, 2009 when the problem of volcanic emissions, or vog, occurred suddenly with significantly increased output of toxic gases. This caused major crop damage and raised concerns for livestock health. These activities are continuing under this project. Initially, numerous contacts from affected farmers provided a good idea of the locations of crop damage, descriptions and extent of plant damage, plant species impacted, and economic impacts on farms. In response to those early contacts, Cooperative Extension Service (CES) personnel conducted three vog presentations in affected communities on the Big Island of Hawaii reaching a total of 116 people. Presentations included photos of damaged crops, causes and symptoms of vog damage, and future research needed. Growers were introduced to key government agencies that could help with crop disasters. Through these meetings, CES recognized the need for more factual information if any agency was to take formal and corrective action on this problem. Therefore, CES conducted and completed a survey titled, "Protea Crop Damage and Loss Assessment Survey." The compiled survey results were presented during community meetings as well as to Hawaii's state legislators and its congressional delegation. Testimonies were provided by CES personnel on two separate occasions to a State of Hawaii House Special Committee on Vog Effects. Information from the protea survey provided the only economic crop loss data available at that time and that data was included in a final Special Committee report. CES agent Mr. Kelvin Sewake served as a member on Hawaii Governor Lingle's Statewide Task Force on Vog and provided updated agricultural information to other task force members at two task force meetings. Administrators and directors on the task force represented 26 county, state and federal agencies. CES personnel developed a publication on "Volcanic Emissions Injury to Plant Foliage." This was distributed in print form to over 500 people and was disseminated via a Plant Disease Newsletter via the world wide web. It was also featured on the home page of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources' website for several months. While sharing and communicating vital information on vog to farmers and public leaders and officials, attempts were made simultaneously at developing field practices to mitigate vog damage. Two growers were provided with two products, an anti-transpirant and a bicarbonate, to test against vog damage. Results were observed in the field. To establish more research trials, two vog-related proposals were submitted for federal and state funding. Monitoring of sulfur dioxide was established in two key communities. Data were collected on crop damage. Also, monitoring of fluorine in forage grasses and observations of clinical signs of fluoridosis in livestock were established. Other livestock including poultry are being observed due to a significant decrease in egg-laying productivity. PARTICIPANTS: Individual participants included: Dr. Wayne Nishijima, Associate Dean and Associate Director of Extension - Overall administration of project. Mr. Kelvin Sewake, County Extension Agent - Coordinated project activities with co-PI's, co-authored a vog publication, organized and conducted educational meetings in affected communities, conducted preliminary field trials, purchased gas monitors, established sulfur dioxide monitors in key locations, communicated with government leaders. Dr. Mark Thorne, Range Management Specialist - Established sulfur dioxide monitoring and sampling of forage grasses for fluoridosis in cattle. Mr. Michael DuPonte, County Extension Agent - Observing and monitoring poultry for egg laying problems. Partner organizations included: the Hawaii Departments of Agriculture, Health, Education, Public Safety, Land and Natural Resources, University of Hawaii's Medical School, and Civil Defense. Federal Agencies included the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Volcanoes National Park, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Pacific Disaster Center. County agencies included Hawaii and Maui Counties' Office of the Mayor, and Hawaii County Fire Department and Civil Defense. Collaborators and contacts included Dr. Scot Nelson, Specialist in Plant Pathology, who authored the vog publication with co-author Sewake, uploaded the publication on his website, and jointly wrote up grant proposals with Sewake. TARGET AUDIENCES: Vog-affected farmers and livestock producers mainly on the south and south western part of the Big Island of Hawaii along with the general pubic were provided with educational meetings, publications and direct contacts. Decision makers and politicians were provided with testimonies, survey information, publications, and direct contacts. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Through the extensive dissemination of information including photos of vog-damaged plants, many farmers have learned to recognize vog damage symptoms versus crop damage related to biotic diseases or other abiotic causes. Although increased awareness and knowledge exists, best management practices so far have been minimal because optimum mitigation measures have not yet been developed and because other inhibiting factors to conducting suggested practices cannot be done due to lack of resources (water, cash flow, greenhouses, etc.). Because of the massive crop losses, especially related to proteas, along with the consequential lack of resources needed to protect crops, one major focus has been on helping growers to obtain government financial assistance. In making farmers aware of federal and state agencies that provide crop insurance and loans, having them apply for these programs, and by providing pertinent crop disaster information to those agencies that offer the program, approximately 23 vog-affected protea growers have applied for assistance from USDA's Farm Service Agency who would not have otherwise even known about the program. As a result of the information provided by "Protea Crop Damage and Loss Assessment Survey," along with protea farmers communicating with Hawaii's political leaders, a U.S. Declaration of Disaster was announced paving the way for federal disaster funding. The release of that funding is still pending. Another result of the information shared with Hawaii's political leaders is that the vog information had been included in drafting many of the 19 House Bills and Resolutions for consideration in the 2009 Hawaii Legislative Session. Specifically, those bills addressed research needed on vog tolerant varieties and vog damage mitigation measures using anti-desiccants and bicarbonate products. Also, by serving as a member of the Governor's Task Force on Vog, information and guidance on agriculturally-related issues were provided in which the task force based their future actions and recommendations to address the problem. Of the two vog research proposals drafted and submitted, the proposal submitted to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) was initially the only proposal approved by the HDOA of all proposals they received in 2008 because of its merit and emergency-like state. However, in that year, all state expenditures were stopped due to poor economic conditions and therefore, no agricultural projects were funded by the state. The second vog project was also not funded.
Publications
- Nelson, S. and Sewake, K. (August 2008). Volcanic Emissions Injury to Plant Foliage. University of Hawaii at Manoa, CTAHR, PD-47.
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