Lately there’s been real buzz about something that’s only been buzzwords: diversified agriculture.
In the post-sugar, post-pineapple era, Hawaii has struggled to gauge its commitment to an agricultural future. That struggle has moved in fits and starts, with plans made for protecting prime cultivation lands at the same time that land-use designations change for large tracts, allowing them to be urbanized.
However, now the ag movement has quickened its pace, encouragingly, with the advance of a plan known as the Whitmore Project. It’s so named because it largely involves a preserve of ag lands north of Wahiawa, near Whitmore Village, and, interest in leasing newly available farm lots is accelerating.
Although the state has only 400 acres currently committed to lease, the acquisition started with 1,200 acres of former pineapple land, and subsequent deals are growing the project holdings to nearly 1,500 acres, including industrial structures.
Further, the humble staple of diets across the Pacific, breadfruit, is getting another look here as a cash crop, only partly because of its nutritional value. What Hawaiians would call the ulu grows on a tree with sap that yields organic latex and flowers that can be processed into natural insect repellant.
These are all enterprises that should be nurtured — through funding for research and needed investments in infrastructure on the farms — to help Hawaii reclaim some of its farming heritage, and the jobs that go with it.
But because precious land resources are involved, state officials should adopt a careful, deliberative approach in determining what acreage should be pursued for diversified agriculture and how to acquire it.
Looking more closely at the breadfruit crop potential, some of the needed research and development is already in the works, with the University of Hawaii Pacific Business Center Program’s efforts to develop the crop into a major agricultural industry.
In addition to the chemical byproduct applications — the latex and repellant, a compound more potent than the DEET found in commercial products — there’s another aspect deserving of exploration. Breadfruit is a gluten-free food, and the marketing possibilities there also could be lucrative.
The state Legislature should revisit the idea of providing the UH with research funds; a bill that would have done so died at the Capitol last session. This was despite the support of the state Agribusiness Development Corp, the agency that’s also implementing the Whitmore Project.
And the Legislature seems likely to get another crack at a bill aimed at expanding the acreage for Whitmore farming. The legislation, Senate Bill 3065, was sponsored by state Sen. Donovan (D, Wahiawa-Whitmore-Mililani Mauka), who plans to introduce a measure like it once the new session convenes in January.
SB 3065 sought a land swap, an exchange of ag land owned by Dole Food Co. near Wahiawa for state-owned acreage nearer the rail line in Kapolei. The list of parcels raised concern from, for example, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which saw some of that land as priorities to keep for watershed and forestry protection, among other purposes. And other state agencies with a stake in West Oahu development, including UH and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, wanted a fuller discussion.
The measure was converted to a proposal for funds "to investigate the possibility" of the swap, one that would require market value of state lands to be considered in weighing the options. Even so, the bill died in the final day of the Legislature when it was deferred to the House.
Lawmakers were correct to take the cautious stance on the issue then and should do so when it comes up next session. But Dela Cruz is right about the fact that the window of opportunity for protecting ag lands is only open for a time. If the state wants to preserve the viability of some agriculture on Oahu, and it should, leaders need to seize that opportunity.
