{"id":107536,"date":"2019-12-09T15:53:05","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T01:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=107536"},"modified":"2019-12-09T15:53:05","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T01:53:05","slug":"ctahr-helps-kauai-taro-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/12\/09\/ctahr-helps-kauai-taro-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"CTAHR<\/abbr> assists in reviving Kaua\u2018i\u2019s taro industry"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
\"Russell
Recently retired researcher Russell Messing, who ran the CTAHR<\/abbr> Kauaʻi<\/span> county operations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alongside Kauaʻi<\/span>\u2019s Agricultural Research Station, the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>) helps to preserve and cultivate taro for the people of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The island\u2019s taro industry was hit hard by the floods of April 2018, which caused extensive damage to the taro-growing region of Hanalei.<\/p>\n

CTAHR<\/abbr> assisted in the renewal of the taro farms, from performing water and soil testing for contaminants to lending strong backs for cleanup. With CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s help in distributing taro varieties for regrowth, Kauaʻi<\/span>\u2019s taro industry is stabilizing.<\/p>\n

CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s involvement goes back to the 1990s when taro varieties faced the threat of birds, pigs, invasive snails and taro leaf blight (TLB<\/abbr>), an infectious plant disease. To alleviate these problems, CTAHR<\/abbr> plant pathologist John Cho<\/strong> partnered with county officials and taro farmers to breed a better taro.<\/p>\n

The collaboration led to a variety called Leihua Hoʻohua<\/span>, which is tolerant to TLB<\/abbr> and resistant to harmful native animals, as well as two other varieties that are suitable for growing in Puerto Rico. CTAHR<\/abbr> distributed Leihua Hoʻohua<\/span><\/em> free to growers, saved the industry, individuals\u2019 livelihoods and the tradition of taro growing in Hanalei.<\/p>\n

Today, 80 percent of the taro grown there is Leihua Hoʻohua<\/span>, and it\u2019s being replanted now, in the next revitalization of the valley and the industry.<\/p>\n

Read the full story and more about CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s collaborations statewide in their quarterly impact report. (PDF<\/abbr><\/small>)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources helps preserve and cultivate the varieties of taro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[222,212,9],"class_list":["post-107536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-agriculture","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t