When people hear the word “agriculture,” they envision plantations, said Stephanie “Stevie” Whalen, executive director of the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center. But in fact, there are dozens of career paths in agriculture that require “everything from a high school education to a Ph.D.”

“Agriculture is research to restaurants, plants to products, farm to fork,” she said. “Most folks don’t have any idea of what it entails to get products from the land to us, because they are so removed from farming.”

To remedy that, the O‘ahu Resource Conservation and Development Council is holding a Parade of Farms event Saturday in the Kunia Corridor, home to 200 acres of farmland, a research facility, value-added product businesses, agricultural businesses and low-income housing for agricultural workers. An open house at the center and tours of farms, businesses and agricultural innovators are meant to inform the public that “there are many homegrown jobs here,” she said.

“We want everyone to see that there are opportunities for kids to stay here in Hawaii and work.”

OPEN HOUSE

Hawaii Agricultural Research Center

94-340 Kunia Road

9 a.m. to 4 p.m., free

Take part in family-friendly garden and conservation-related activities; presentations on cacao processing; and coffee and honey tasting. Videos will be shown on the history of the center, which began as the Hawaii Sugar Planters’ Association, and its youth program, Seeds for Tomorrow, a weeklong camp that exposes students to career paths available in agriculture. A food truck or two will be parked to cater to hungry visitors.

OUR FOOD AND FARMERS

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

or 2 to 4:30 p.m.

See diverse farm products grown in Kunia. Drive by Frankie’s Nursery, where fruit trees are grown, and the Kunia Plantation Village, where farmworker housing is being revitalized. Then pay a visit to Kunia Country Farms, a large aquaponic farm where leafy greens are grown.

OUR PRODUCTS TOUR

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Tour the Oils of Aloha factory and see how macadamia and kukui nut oils are used to make skin care products and cooking oils, then snack on corn popped in mac nut oil, while learning to cook with the oil. At the next stop, Manulele Distillers, see a farm-to-bottle operation, beginning with cane juice pressing and continuing to the distillery. The end product: agricole rum.

AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS TOUR

1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Visit Hawaiian Earth Products, where Oahu’s green waste is turned into soil nutrients for farmers and gardeners. Next, stop at Paina Hawaii Irradiator and the Hawaii Papaya Industry packing shed to see how the irradiator works, and learn why it’s important to farms that export produce. The final stop is DuPont Pioneer, a research and plant nursery operation, where, among other things, sunn hemp is grown as a cover crop to replenish the soil.

All bus tours start at the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center, 94-340 Kunia Road.

Tickets: $20, $15 ages 8 to 18, free to those 7 years and under. Purchase at oahurcd.org or call 622-9026.

KO HANA PAU HANA

Manulele Distillers, 92-1770 Kunia Road

4:30 to 6 p.m.; $18 (ages 21 and up)

Learn about the nuances of making agricole rum and enjoy rum tastings, light pupu and a rum cocktails demonstration.