Expanded production turns lettuce into state’s top veggie

Hawaii lettuce farmers had a good year last year, more than doubling production of the leafy greens, according to a report released Tuesday.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that farmers produced 4.7 million pounds of lettuce statewide last year compared with 2.1 million pounds the year before.

Farmers expanded lettuce production to 260 acres last year compared with 140 acres the year before, the report said. Revenue earned by farms from lettuce about doubled to $10.8 million from $5.5 million in the same period.

The surge made lettuce the state’s biggest vegetable crop by revenue among 11 vegetables covered in the report, eclipsing sweet potatoes, which generated $7.5 million in farm revenue and had previously held the top spot on the annual report.

However, many vegetables aren’t included in the report to avoid disclosing production and sales figures of individual producers. For instance, tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet corn aren’t in the tally.

The Statistics Service, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that produces the report with help from the state Department of Agriculture, said revenue for the 11 vegetable crops in the report increased 23 percent to $34.2 million last year from $27.7 million the year before.

Most of the increase was driven by lettuce excluding romaine lettuce. Smaller gains occurred for watercress, oriental squash, romaine, sweet potatoes, eggplant, mustard cabbage and Chinese cabbage. Revenue decreased for head cabbage due to prices and also for onions. Green onion revenue was about flat.

The report also said herb production — primarily basil and parsley — rose 2 percent to 5.5 million pounds last year from 5.4 million pounds the year before, while higher prices help push the value of herbs up 18 percent to $11.2 million from $9.5 million.