Food- and nutritional-security are among the highest concerns for Hawaii residents. The state imports about 85% of the consumed food and there’s roughly two-week worth of food locally at any given time. Local food production is costly due to high inputs cost. Algae extracts are known to supports plants' flowering and fruiting, increasing plant nutrient uptake, enhancing resistance and recovery from plant stress events, and increasing nutrient use efficiency and fertilizer assimilation. Three different algae extracts (Afrikelp, Acadian, and Kelpak) were evaluated for their effect on growth and yield of bush bean, bell pepper, and tomato in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 5 blocks. The algae extracts were applied 5 times during each growing season. The algae extracts were applied at dilution rate of 1:100 with a week between applications for the bush bean crop and two-week intervals for bell pepper and tomato crops. The results showed a highly significant (p < 0.01) increase in the three crops yield under all algae extracts compared to control (water only) treatment. The results also showed there was a significant (p < 0.05) difference between the algae extracts with highest yield recorded under Afrikelp extract compared to Acadian and Kelpak. The yield increase reached between 150-300% compared to control treatment.
