Battling Coconut Heart Rot
on the Big Island

Don't miss an informational program about
the Coconut Heart Rot Disease on
Public Access Television in West Hawaii:

Channel # 14

Thursday 1/18 at: 11:45 a.m.
Friday 1/19 at: 1:19 p.m.
Saturday 1/20 at: 1:17 p.m.
Sunday 1/21 at: 12:34 p.m.
Monday 1/22 at: 1:15 p.m.
Tuesday 1/23 at: 2:47 p.m.
Sunday 2/4 at: 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday 2/6 at: 5:30 p.m.

All photos can be clicked on to view larger images.

West Hawaii Today

Disease attacking islands' coconut trees

December 19, 2000

By BOBBY COMMAND

Hawaii without coconut trees? Outlandish, unnatural and abnormal - but entirely possible.

A Maui landscaper said he has surveyed the Hawaiian Islands and has seen coconut heart rot disease across the state. If left unchecked, Philippe Visintainer said an epidemic could wipe out every coconut palm in Hawaii.

The fungus phytophthora katsurae has killed 20 percent of the trees on Maui, Visintainer said. While most of the infected trees have been found on the windward side of the islands, Visintainer said scattered outbreaks are beginning to occur in the drier leeward areas.

In the disease's early visible stages, the young center leaf, or heart, turns brown and falls over. As the rot advances, remaining fronds droop and die. In its final stages, the top of the tree falls off.

Visintainer, who has spearheaded a private sector battle against the disease, said he has spotted the coconut heart rot in Kailua Village. And when the symptoms are visible, Visintainer said, the condition is terminal.

"If left unchecked, this disease will spread and it will be impossible to control," Visintainer said. "The University of Hawaii said we are already in an epidemic stage."

Visintainer said scientists don't know how the disease came to Hawaii, but they know it is carried by windblown rains, via insects, birds and mice, or by pruning and planting infected trees.

UH scientists first identified coconut heart rot on Kauai in 1970, but Visintainer said no one was
alarmed at first because it spread slowly and was attributed to the dampness of the areas. However, scientists now believe soggy conditions are not the cause because prolonged drought has not stalled its spread.

Visintainer said his Hawaii Coconut Protectors organization is working with the state to stall the disease by making residents aware of the problem and keeping uninfected trees healthy.

"There's no cure," Visintainer said. "It's too early to tell if we can manage it, but if we don't try, we will lose all our coconuts."

He said residents can help prevent the spread of the disease by cutting down infected trees and burying or burning the remains.

Visintainer also said tree trimmers must sterilize their tools each time they prune a coconut tree.

Visintainer said the state and Maui County have pledged money for research.

He added the state is unable to fully attack coconut heart rot because it is already overwhelmed by invasions of noxious diseases and animals, most recently the fire ant and banana bunchy top virus.

"I realized we needed to do it ourselves," Visintainer said. "The bureaucracy takes forever to get anything done, and by then it might be too late."

Eloise Kilgore, a plant pathologist with the state Department of Agriculture, said they support Visintainer's efforts to secure funding for research and eradication.

"He's not a scientist but we're willing to back him up," Kilgore said. "He's on the right track."

Eradication is now only voluntary, and Visintainer said he hopes the disease does not spread so widely the state has to order trees to be destroyed to wipe out the disease, as was done with bunchy top virus. Visintainer said that would be a disaster because coconut trees grow much more slowly, at a rate of about a foot each year.

While diseased trees are doomed, Visintainer said, preliminary research by UH has shown inoculating the trunk of a healthy tree with fertilizer provides protection from the fungus.

"It's important that everyone get together before it is too late," Visintainer said. "These trees are invaluable and we don't want to get into a situation where they are all dying."

For further information on the disease and its control, call Visintainer at (800) 417-7435.

Please feel free to call, write or email for any further information.

	Hawaii Coconut Protectors email: coconut@mauigateway.com
Kona		Kona

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