HI HB1931

Appropriates $360,000 from general revenues to the Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 2014-2015 to research and develop methods for preventing and treating macadamia felted coccid infestations.

Directs the Department of Agriculture to cooperate with the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources on research including canopy modification, alternative pesticides, biological control agents, and management thresholds for the insect.

Addresses the macadamia felted coccid (Eriococcus ironsidei), an Australian insect discovered in South Kona in 2005 that causes severe damage to macadamia nut trees and has become resistant to insecticidal oil treatments.

Notes that macadamia nuts are among Hawaii's five top-grossing agricultural commodities, with a 2012-2013 estimated farm value of $35,200,000 and a 44-million-pound harvest.

Appropriated funds do not lapse at the end of the fiscal biennium but will lapse on June 30, 2016 if unencumbered; takes effect July 1, 2014.