04-25-2017, 11:10 AM
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/news/loca...est-friend
Dogs already are used to sniff out a fungus in Florida avocado trees, and researchers in Hawaii think they could be trained to detect the ohia disease before trees show symptoms.
Of course, "before shows symptoms" is "after infected", but still "potentially treatable with fungicide".
It's nice that they're "doing something", but consider the map shown with the fine article: there's 5 years of confirmed cases, and ROD has reached most areas of the island.
I seriously doubt they'll find the funding to treat thousands of acres, which makes "detection" nearly pointless.
Dogs already are used to sniff out a fungus in Florida avocado trees, and researchers in Hawaii think they could be trained to detect the ohia disease before trees show symptoms.
Of course, "before shows symptoms" is "after infected", but still "potentially treatable with fungicide".
It's nice that they're "doing something", but consider the map shown with the fine article: there's 5 years of confirmed cases, and ROD has reached most areas of the island.
I seriously doubt they'll find the funding to treat thousands of acres, which makes "detection" nearly pointless.