{"id":235992,"date":"2026-06-15T11:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=235992"},"modified":"2026-06-15T11:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:02:18","slug":"grant-invasive-plant-diseases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/15\/grant-invasive-plant-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"$322K grant aims at invasive plant diseases threatening Â鶹´«Ã½"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"bananas\"<\/p>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span> College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>) is central to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA<\/abbr>) grant to protect the state from invasive plant threats. The $322,000 grant will fund two state projects to improve early identification of major hibiscus, banana, and citrus diseases before they gain a foothold in Â鶹´«Ã½.<\/span><\/p>\n

CTAHR<\/abbr> faculty will play a pivotal role in the detection and diagnostics of a statewide nursery and ornamental plant survey. Assistant Professors Jing Zhou, a specialist in plant virology, Marian Luis, a specialist in mycology, and Extension agent Alberto Ricordi, PhD<\/abbr>, are serving as co-principal investigators on the survey grant.<\/p>\n

\"hibiscus\"<\/p>\n

Ricordi will assist in coordinating site visits statewide, while professors Zhou and Luis will do preliminary confirmation of suspected plant diseases. Initial screening will take place at the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (HDAB<\/abbr>), while CTAHR<\/abbr>‘s specialized laboratories will confirm the presence of diseases before samples are sent to the USDA<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

“Building a relationship with CTAHR<\/abbr> and UH<\/abbr> in general is very important because they’re a great asset for the department,” said Josiah Marquez, HDAB<\/abbr>\u2019s Plant Pathologist and lead on the grant. “In terms of these faculty members being specialists in their fields, it’s important that we take advantage of that.”<\/p>\n

In the second project, Assistant Professor Garrett Roell from CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, and Assistant Professor Huaijin Chen from the Department of Information and Computer Sciences will use artificial intelligence (AI<\/abbr>) and advanced computer programming to predict which plant diseases pose the biggest risk to Â鶹´«Ã½.<\/span><\/p>\n

This joint initiative is scheduled as a one-year pilot project. A successful first year could pave the way for more funds and a larger scope to detect other invasive threats, such as destructive insect pests or animal pathogens, long before they reach Â鶹´«Ã½.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The $322,000 grant will fund two state projects to improve early identification of major plant diseases before they gain a foothold in Â鶹´«Ã½.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":235996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[212,484,1363,1314,1010,73,9],"class_list":["post-235992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-information-and-computer-science","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-molecular-biosciences-and-bioengineering","tag-sustainability","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