The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service awarded Hawaii Agriculture Research Center a cooperative agreement valued at $301,256 on June 1, 2026, to advance genetic improvement of high-value tropical crops in Hawaii under the Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research program (CFDA 10.001).
The recipient will develop locally adapted, coffee leaf rust-resistant varieties for release to Hawaiian growers; maintain and propagate coffee genetic resources to support long-term germplasm access; evaluate select cacao germplasm to identify improved cultivars for Hawaiian growers; develop tissue culture and plant regeneration protocols to enable precision breeding methods for tropical crops; and conduct genomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and phenotypic evaluation of important tropical crops. Performance occurs in Waipahu, Hawaii, with a completion date of October 31, 2028.