Kaua‘i farmers lose about $3 million in potential annual export revenue because the island’s fruit-disinfestation plant has been out of action for four years, according to a county official. “We’ve been working on getting the facility up and running for
Kaua‘i farmers lose about $3 million in potential annual export revenue because the island’s fruit-disinfestation plant has been out of action for four years, according to a county official.
“We’ve been working on getting the facility up and running for years,” said Bill Spitz, economic development specialist in the county Office of Economic Development. “But it is a cumbersome process.”
Spitz said his $3-million-loss estimate is a “ball-park figure.”
Local agricultural advocate and veteran farmer Roy Oyama said island leaders lacked funds to re-open the facility, which is the property of the University of Hawai‘i.
He said Kauaians have an appropriation from the state Legislature for $150,000 toward reopening the facility, but ultimately need about $250,000 more for administrative purposes and staff salaries.
“The longer we wait, the more it costs us,” Oyama said.
Spitz said officials with both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and their Japanese counterparts require the disinfestation of the produce before it will be accepted in their markets.
Spitz said disinfestation raises the ambient temperature of the fruit to 117 degrees, and kills fruitfly larvae. Without it, the papaya cannot be exported.
“Many times, tourists ask to ship papayas back (like they do pineapples),” Oyama said. “We need to keep the money in Hawai‘i. We need help.”
Kaua‘i papaya growers produced 38,000 pounds of the fruit in February, a 25-percent increase from the same time a year ago, yet only 2,000 pounds were exported, all to other Hawaiian islands, according to statistics from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and state Department of Agriculture.
This is in sharp contrast to the Big Island, whose farmers exported nearly 2 million pounds of papaya in February despite a decrease in production from February 2004.
NASS officials reported that the total acreage devoted to papaya growth had decreased from a high of 65,000 acres in June 2003 to 40,000 acres in June and December 2004.
Oyama noted that papaya production on Kaua‘i had decreased radically over the years. He said local growers needed to plant with a plan in mind, to exercise greater quality control, and practice sustainable farming in order to compete with other growers.
Overall, according to NASS statistics, Hawai‘i produced 2.28 million pounds of papaya in February, 10 percent lower than in January, and 18 percent down from a year ago.
Hawaiian papaya growers were expected to receive an estimated 37 cents per pound for fruit in February, up 19 percent from a year ago, according to NASS figures.
