State, University of Hawaiʻi secure more than $322K for plant pathogen detection

Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and University of Hawaiʻi secured more than $322,000 in federal grant funding that will be used to strengthen the state’s ability to detect, assess and respond to emerging plant pathogen threats.

Grant funds will be used for two new projects — a nursery and ornamental survey and a machine learning decision support tool for phytopathogen risk assessments. Lead principal investigator is Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity State Plant Pathologist Josiah Marquez, with co-principal investigators Garrett Roell, Huaijin Chen, Alberto Ricordi, Marian Luis and Jing Zhou.

The projects are a joint research effort between Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and University of Hawaiʻi and are focused on monitoring and surveillance of important plant pathogens, developing advanced machine learning–based tools to identify and prioritize high-risk phytopathogens and modeling potential pathways of introduction into Hawaiʻi and mainland United States.

“Hawaiʻi sits at one of the most strategically important agricultural crossroads in the world,” said Hawaiʻi Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity Chairperson Sharon Hurd in an announcement about the new grant funds. “These investments strengthen our ability to proactively identify emerging threats before they become costly impacts to agriculture, natural resources and trade.”