HONOLULU — A state advisory committee has recommended a quarantine on green coffee beans from Kona. It’s an emergency effort to stop the spread of a devastating pest. The committee has recommended a two-tiered quarantine, one for the Big Island as a whole and tighter restrictions around South Kona. A quarantine would restrict the exportation of unroasted coffee beans.

The tiny coffee berry borer has gained the reputation of being the world’s most devastating coffee pest for causing about $500 million in damage a year to the coffee industry worldwide.

Twenty-one coffee farms in South Kona have already been found to be infected with the bug.

At a meeting Wednesday before the members of the Department of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals, Plant Quarantine Branch manager Carol Okada said a quarantine would give them time to find a way to control the threat of the insect.

“The coffee berry borer likely cannot be contained, even with the establishment of quarantine zones. However, its general dissemination, which is slow, can be retarded for many years if an effective quarantine is established and maintained,” said Okada.

Tom Greenwell’s Kona coffee farm is among those infected and said the bug is a serious threat and he supports a quarantine.

“I’m not asking please put more financial impact on my company, but I’m thinking about the farmer through the state of Hawaii,” said Greenwell.

Coffee processor Jim Wayman supports the quarantine despite the increased cost to treat the Kona beans, which he estimates would be $50,000 to $60,000 a year, and would likely be passed along to consumers.

“If we have to err on the side of being conservative and say we need to put this up right away until we know how fast it’s going to spread, then I believe that’s what we need to do,” said Wayman.

But the Kona Coffee Farmers Association testified the quarantine would devastate the organic coffee farmers.

“The risk is that Kona coffee’s reputation in those markets will be permanently damaged and the price that we receive may plummet and coffee may no longer be a profitable crop,” said Bruce Corker, Kona Coffee Farmers Association president.

The committee did not recommend the use of pesticides to treat the beans with the quarantine, which is an effort to help those organic farmers.

The quarantine still must be approved by the ag department’s full board, which meets next Tuesday.

KITV.com