Mainland might get untreated avocados

Hawaii Sharwil avocados draw raves from local chefs and consumers. On the mainland, not so much.

That’s because sending the exceptional fruits to other states has long been largely sealed off. But this tightly regulated market looks like it is ripening as a major new export opportunity.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed relaxing restrictions on sending Hawaii Sharwils, the state’s dominant commercial avocado variety, to the mainland.

The change, if approved, is expected to produce a boon for one of the state’s smaller, yet highly regarded, crops.

Mainland markets have largely been closed to Hawaii avocados so that fruit flies aren’t spread to states that are free of the pests, especially places with huge fruit farm industries.

The USDA proposed the new regulations earlier this year, after analyzing new research on the succeptibility of Hawaii Sharwils to fruit fly infestation.

Under revised regulations, farmers would no longer have to fumigate or otherwise treat Sharwils to kill potential fruit fly larvae before exporting the fruit to many states as long as other precautions are followed.

Local avocado farmers and industry supporters say the intended move looks likely and will stimulate industry expansion by allowing Hawaii Sharwils to fairly compete with avocados from other states and foreign countries.

“This is long overdue,” Ken Love, a longtime industry advocate and Hawaii farmer, said in written comments on the proposed rule change. “It’s a shame it took so long.”

The federal agency estimates that Hawaii avocado growers would export 396,000 pounds of Sharwils under the relaxed rules. That would represent more than half the local industry’s total production of 700,000 pounds in 2011, or about a third of production at a recent peak of 1.2 million pounds in 2007.

Most commercial avocado farms in Hawaii are on Hawaii island, and produced annual sales of about $500,000 to $800,000 over the past decade. That pales in comparison with the two other major avocado-producing states, California and Florida, where annual sales have been close to $460 million and $20 million, respectively, in recent years.

Less restrictive export rules, however, could stimulate growth in Hawaii avocado farming similar to an effort that local growers coordinated in the 1980s to position Sharwils as an export crop because of their premium qualities, which include a buttery richness and small seeds.

“The rule change represents an amazing potential for all Hawaiian growers,” Love said in an email. “I think it will be a slow start because we just don’t have enough farmers yet. Ask me in five years, and I think there will be a lot more avocados getting ready to be harvested across the state.”

Brooks Wakefield, a farmer who has been growing avocados in Keau­hou on Hawaii island for more than 30 years, said she’s already received calls from other farmers asking whether they should graft more trees. “This could be huge,” she said.

Sharwil avocados, an exceptional variety that was developed in Australia and fruits in the winter, were pushed by the Hawaii Avocado Association in the 1980s as an export to compete with foreign imports during the winter along with the dominant Hass variety grown year-round on the mainland.

Based on research in the 1980s that determined mature Hawaii Sharwils to be an extremely poor host for the oriental fruit fly, the USDA allowed export to the mainland in 1991. But the window was shut in 1992 after fruit fly larvae were found in an avocado qualified for export, according to the agency.

The USDA then imposed tight restrictions on Hawaii Sharwil exports, allowing them into the mainland only if fumigated or treated with cold plus fumigation — processes that can degrade fruit quality.

Exports of untreated Sharwils to Alaska are allowed because the climate in that state prevents fruit flies from becoming established, USDA said.

Some Hawaii avocado growers regard the restriction in place for 22 years as extreme and unfair in light of research dating from the 1990s and rules allowing imports of untreated Hass avocados from Mexico for the past eight years.

One researcher said the clampdown even took a toll on the local commercial supply of Hawaii avocados.

“This restriction pulled the rug out from under the Hawaii avocado industry, resulting in stagnation, disorganization and continued loss of market share to imported Hass avocados from California and South America in the ensuing years,” Ty McDonald, an extension agent with the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, wrote in the Hanai‘Ai/The Food Provider publication in 2010.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture requested that untreated Sharwils be allowed back into mainland markets, and the USDA agreed to re-examine its export rules and the fruit fly risk.

The federal agency cited research including studies in 1995, 2009 and 2010 concluding that healthy Hawaii Sharwils don’t pose a significant risk of transmitting oriental fruit flies.

Based on that research, the USDA recommends a new set of less restrictive export rules that would allow untreated Sharwils harvested between Nov. 1 and March 31 to be exported to 32 states with colder climates that prevent fruit flies from reproducing, including Washington, Utah, Colo­rado, New York and Virginia but not Oregon, California, Texas, Florida and other mostly southern states.

Exporters also would have to maintain fruit fly traps and records, remove fallen fruit from fields, harvest only mature hard fruit with stems attached, and pack fruit within 24 hours in a screened packing facility that prevents fruit fly entry.

The USDA would register and monitor farms under the program if approved.

Thomas Benton, president of the Hawaii Avocado Association, called the protocol “understandably very cautious but doable for the Hawaii farmer.”

Benton, in comments on the proposed rule change, said it will mostly be a new generation of farmers who will benefit from relaxing the export rules.

“We believe this system is very safe and will enable the Hawaii farmer to build a good dependable market for the Hawaii Sharwil and to be able to expand our production.”

Bruce Corker, a Sharwil grower on Hawaii island, called the proposed rule change a step in the right direction. “Hawaii Sharwil growers deserve fair and reasonable access to our own country’s markets of the type currently afforded to growers and exporters in various foreign countries,” he told the USDA in written comments.

The USDA’s proposal also received supportive comments from Hawaii researchers and government officials, including its congressional delegation and the state Department of Agriculture. Suggestions for relatively small changes were made by the Florida Department of Agriculture and the National Plant Board.

The USDA does not have an estimated timetable for making a decision and implementing a final rule.