UH to Renew Search For Coconut Fungus Cure pg.2
The fungus was first identified in 1971 and probably arrived in Hawaii about three years earlier, according to Jerry Ooka, the UH researcher who headed the earlier experiments on Kauai and who is planning, finally, to continue them. The university’s research station is on Kauai’s “Coconut Coast,” an area heavily planted with coconut palms a century ago in anticipation of an industry that never materialized.
“The disease appears to go in cycles of four to five years.” Ooka said. “It appears to spread most rapidly after heavy storms. A great number of trees on Kauai were affected following both Hurricane Iwa and Hurricane Iniki.”
The fungus is most commonly found on the wet, windward side of the islands, but has begun showing up on leeward coasts recently. It is spread by the wind, on carriers such as birds and insects, and by gardening tools that have been in contact with diseased trees.
The first symptom is the death of the newest frond emerging from the top of the tree. But by the time that can be seen, the tree is doomed. During the course of the disease, a tree will lose all of its fronds.
UH’s earlier research discovered that an annual dose of potassium phosphite injected with a pressurized syringe will boost a tree’s immune system sufficiently to ward off the fungus.
Because it is a nutrient and not a fungicide, the material is treated by government agencies as a plant food and is not subject to regulation, Ooda said. The chemical used by Visintainer varies only slightly — to avoid patent infringement problems, Ooda said — from that developed by the university. Visintainer claims a 90 percent success rate.
