[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. HIRONO (for herself and Mr. Schatz):
  S. 2884. A bill to amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 
Trade Act of 1990 to provide research and extension grants to combat 
plant pests and noxious weeds that impact coffee plants, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Coffee Plant 
Health Initiative Amendments Act, a bill that allows the Secretary of 
Agriculture to provide research and extension grants for the purposes 
of protecting coffee plants from outside threats such as invasive pests 
and weeds.
  Coffee serves as a cornerstone of Hawaii's agricultural industry, 
both in terms of culture and economics. Coffee has been grown in Hawaii 
for almost 200 years and is revered all over the world for exceptional 
quality and taste. Coffee is grown on every main island in Hawaii, with 
half of the acreage on Hawaii Island and the other half spread across 
Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Hawaii remains the largest 
grower of coffee in the United States, with over 27 million pounds 
produced and yielding just over $54 million during the 2019-2020 
season.
  Like all natural ecosystems in Hawaii, coffee production has 
experienced numerous threats from pests and weeds. These include the 
black twig borer, root-knot nematode, green scale, crab spider, coffee 
berry borer, and coffee leaf rust, to name a few. In response to the 
2010 arrival of the coffee berry borer in Hawaii, I successfully 
included the coffee plant health initiative provision in the 2014 farm 
bill. This provision allowed the Secretary of Agriculture to provide 
research and extension grants to help the coffee community combat the 
coffee berry borer. The resulting Federal assistance provided has been 
instrumental in providing coffee producers the tools they need to 
protect their coffee crops from the coffee berry borer.
  Within the past year another coffee pest has emerged in Hawaii, a 
fungus known as Coffee Leaf Rust. Like the coffee berry borer, Federal 
funds are needed to research and develop pest management strategies to 
equip coffee producers with the knowledge and tools necessary to 
safeguard their coffee yields.
  This bill builds upon the 2014 farm bill coffee plant health 
initiative provision by expanding the scope of research and extension 
grants to all invasive pests and noxious weeds threatening the coffee 
industry, not just the coffee berry borer. While our researchers and 
coffee growers are currently battling coffee leaf rust, future pest and 
weeds not currently in Hawaii, like the Coffee Leaf Miner and Coffee 
Wilt Disease, are likely to emerge. This expansion of the coffee plant 
health initiative will provide much needed Federal resources to help 
our coffee community quickly respond to the myriad pests waiting in the 
wings.
  This bill is supported by the University of Hawaii at Manoa College 
of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the Hawaii Coffee 
Association, the Kau Coffee Growers Cooperative, Kauai Coffee Company, 
LLC, Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters, LLC, and the Puerto Rico Farm Bureau.
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