APPLE SNAIL CONTROL

Taro is the main ingredient of poi, which is a popular food for people in Hawaii and is used frequently at luaus.   The apple snails damage  taro plants by chewing into the corm at the very top of the taro plant.   This chewing leaves a hole in the corm that opens a pathway for bacteria and other pathogens to enter.   This damage usually causes the plant to die.   If the plant does not completely die, it is so damaged that crop yields are drastically reduced.

Apple snails are also a health problem.   The snails carry the bacteria that causes Leptospirosis, and people that come in contact with the water and mud that makes up the snails habitat can contract Leptospirosis.

A demonstration project was implemented on the Kanoa family farm.   The goal was to find a low cost biological control of the snail population.   It was known that ducks would eat snails.   Therefore, several varieties of ducks were tried.   It was found that Cayuga ducks (shown below) would consume large quantities of small young snails, but could not eat the large mature snails.   Therefore, a vacuum, designed to suck up and crush large snails, was invented specifically for this project by Issac Kanoa, a brilliant young mechanic.

Tri-Isle RC&D received $15,000 in grant funds from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the County of Maui, Office of Economic Development to do this demonstration project.   Tri-Isle RC&D received help from Alu Like in involving youths to pick the larger snails using the Kanoa Vacuum.   At projects end, Cayuga ducks and cages were given to farmers.   The all terrain vehicles were auctioned off, which returned $10,000 to the county.   The project was a huge success, with a final net project cost of only $5,000.

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