Department of Agriculture & Biosecurity

Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity officials are going door to door in Kona Palisades on Hawaiʻi Island to ask for consent from residents to treat palms on their properties.

Commercial businesses are invited to dispose of unused pesticide products through a resumed state program. The last drop-off events brought in nearly 40,000 lbs. of pesticides.

A new one-year rule went into effect Wednesday to help protect Molokaʻi from the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle by restricting the import of soil and landscaping materials known to harbor the insect. HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol has more.

The state Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals, under the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, agreed Wednesday that the rules protecting the island from CRB are insufficient, and that the need to do so constitutes an emergency.

Earlier this week, HPR reported on a petition aimed at stopping the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle from reaching Molokaʻi. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol shares the next steps of that effort.

The invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle is so widespread on Oʻahu that efforts are focused on containment and management rather than eradication, but the neighbor islands are still fighting to prevent or limit its damage to their communities. HPR’s Mark Ladao has an update on the efforts to contain it.

A non-venomous ball python snake was captured in the backyard of an Oʻahu residence on Sunday night.

Dubbed "Akamai Arrival," the project aims to figure out how compliance in filling out the forms changes if passengers receive them digitally instead of via paper on the plane.

It’s not entirely clear how many dogs are being used in Hawaiʻi for invasive species detection, but some estimate more than a dozen between various organizations and state and federal agencies. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke spoke to HPR about a Hawaiʻi agriculture delegation's recent visit to Washington, D.C., where they discussed Hawaiʻi's significant export barriers as an island state.