Growing ulu, also known as breadfruit, in a diversified plot can be more profitable than monocrops, according to a report by the Hawaii Ulu Cooperative and Propagate, an agronomy software company.

Ulu, a traditional Polynesian staple crop, has long been seen as a boon for revitalizing Indigenous culture, boosting food sovereignty and creating a livelihood for rural communities. But growing the starchy crop hasn’t become mainstream, lacking investment and infrastructure.

HUC partnered with OK Farms in Hilo to create a 5-acre demonstration of a diversified ulu zone. Ulu trees bear fruit in five to seven years and become fully mature in 11 years, the report said, so the group created models using faster-yielding crops — squash, taro, banana, mamaki — to see how farmers could generate income in the meantime. Such models and demonstrations are necessary to “de-risk” ulu farming and show how local stakeholders can collaborate to scale up production, the report said.

“Partnering with Propagate enabled us to develop an economic model for ‘ulu agroforestry in Hawai‘i that can now be shared with farmers, landowners and other stakeholders to build community confidence in these systems — as not only good for the community and ‘aina, but also as a sound, long-term business decision,” Dana Shapiro, general manager of the Hawaii Ulu Cooperative, said in the report.

Diversifying can help farmers break even in six years with a 23% internal rate of return after 20 years, rather than breaking even in 15 years, with a return rate of 5% with an ulu monoculture, the report said.

While the local community expressed interest in expansion, the report said, it is also “very cautious about large-scale systems or concentrated ownership models due to the lasting trauma of plantation agriculture in Hawai‘i.”

Scaling up also hits a point of diminishing returns: Five acres is the minimum to be “financially advantageous,” but around 50 acres, “operations don’t get significantly more efficient and profitable,” the report said.

One sound scaling method would entail creating regional hui, where farms near to each other, that are 5 acres and larger, could share infrastructure costs, large equipment and labor during peak season, the report said. HUC and Propagate, with funding and help from Elemental Excelerator, plans to work on 1,000 more acres of ulu in the next five years, the report said.

HUC is organizing a hui on the east side of Hawaii island, the region with the highest concentration of farms 5 acres or more, the report said.

The 13 farms include almost 200 acres, with 10,641 ulu trees which, when they reach maturity in 11 years, will produce about 4 million pounds of ulu annually.