The state plans to grade approximately 1,200 acres of land it purchased from the George Galbraith Estate within the next few months to make it available to farmers by the middle of next year.
The type of farming has yet to be determined, but will likely include vegetable crops such as cabbage, lettuce, basil and tomato, said James Nakatani, executive director of the state Agribusiness Development Corp.
The state and nonprofit Trust for Public Land acquired for $25 million one of Oahu’s largest tracts of undeveloped land in a move expected to expand food production and make Hawaii more self-sufficient.
Hawaii imports 85 to 90 percent of its food, according to the trust.
"Within about six months the land should be ready to go, ready to plant," Nakatani said. The state and trust are also acquiring nearly 460 acres of ag land in Whitmore Village for $10 million, he said.
The deal for more than 1,700 acres of George Galbraith Estate land was completed with a number of parties, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which will preserve 500 acres near the Kukaniloko Birthstones State Historic Site.
D.R. Horton-Schuler Division, which won approval from the state Land Use Commission earlier this year to build the $4.6 billion Ho‘opili housing project, also contributed $500,000 for the land acquisition. The developer will donate another $500,000 to pay for soil preparation and infrastructure for farming in a move intended to move a number of farmers at the Ho‘opili site to the new plots, the company said in a news release.
The former pineapple plantation lands near Wahiawa have been fallow since Del Monte ended its pineapple operations in 2004.
"The soil is clean, but what it lacks is it’s too acidic because of the pineapple," Nakatani said, adding that the state will add calcium to the fields to bring down the acidity levels and make it more conducive to growing crops.
There are still few details about what the cost will be to farmers and how much they’re likely to produce, though Nakatani said the state will extend long-term leases to farmers, most likely at below market rates.
The state will initially use several deep wells on the property and elsewhere for irrigation while seeking new sources of water and possibly building reservoirs, he added. The Legislature set aside $750,000 earlier this year for water irrigation planning and design for the Galbraith land.
The long-term solution is to use water from Lake Wilson, which is less expensive, Nakatani said.
As for pesticides from the pineapple days, Nakatani said the soil has been tested and is free of residues.
"Our plan is to provide both large and small farming operations with long-term leases," he said. "There will also be an opportunity for farmers on neighbor islands to expand their operations on Oahu."
Gov. Neil Abercrombie, at a Tuesday press conference announcing the deal, said Hawaii is taking a leap forward toward agricultural security and further developing the growing culinary arts industry.
"I think the interest is going to be enormous," Abercrombie said. "I think we’re going to take major strides towards agricultural sustainability that simply hasn’t been possible."
Russell Kokubun, chairman of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture, said there has already been a great interest from small and large farmers alike for what he described as prime agricultural land.
"These are higher elevation lands … they have some consistent rainfall and they’ve been shown to be very productive," Kokubun said. "The potential for this dwarfs anything that we’ve seen previously here in Hawaii."
