coffee rust fungus vs Kona?

[bwilson4web]

Hi,

I remember in the 1960s seeing the Dutch Elm disease that was carried by a beetle from tree to tree and killed 'em. We use various 'sticky' insecticide greases to try and protect the trees but it was not effective. The beetles overwhelmed the trees and the the bug killed them. So I was concerned to read about the coffee borer but add a fungus and I'm seeing the ghost of Dutch Elm disease.

Does anyone in the Hawaii Department of Agriculture care?

Personally, I think all coffee imports, roasted or green, should be banned to Hawaii. In parallel, a serious effort, off-shore, is needed to gene-splice a fungus resistant, Hawaii coffee tree. The import ban is critical to buying time to preserve Kona quality.

Bob Wilson