All about Palms with William Merwin and Leland Miyano

MALP Educational Meeting—Free to the public

Date: Tuesday January 24, 2012
Place: Maui Community Service Bldg next to CTHAR Extension Services (Map) on the UH Maui campus.
Time: Pupus will be served at 6:30 pm and the talk will begin at 7:00.

On January 24th MALP is proud to host guest speakers: William Merwin and Leland Miyano as they share with us their vast combined knowledge about palms. Their talk will include information on Hawaii’s palms, palm growth habits and conservation efforts.

William Merwin, who has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and is the recent US Poet Laureate, has lived and gardened on Maui for over 30 years. Most of his focus has been on cultivating palms from around the world. He has gathered approximately 800 different species of palms, creating a truly unique palm jungle within the rainforest of Maui’s north shore. His enduring gardening passion along with his legacy of being a successful poet will be preserved with the recently created “The Merwin Conservancy“.

Leland Miyano, a good friend of Merwin, is an artist, landscape designer and author from Oahu. Leland has years of experience working with native palms throughout Hawaii and has worked extensively with many highly respected people in the field of horticulture and design. Leland’s numerous books include: Hawaii’s Beautiful Tree’s and Hawaii, A Floral Paradise. Leland’s own 1-acre garden in Kahalu’u is renown for its design and features numerous palms.

CLICK HERE for full information on this truly notable event.

BusinessWorld Online: RP gets provisional approval to export fresh bananas to US mainland

 

BY NEIL JEROME C. MORALES, Reporter

RP gets provisional approval to export fresh bananas to US mainland

Local banana farmers get ready for banana rasp snail, red palm Mite, two-spotted mite, banana root borer and the banana aphid. Click for larger image.
Local banana farmers get ready for banana rasp snail, red palm Mite, two-spotted mite, banana root borer and the banana aphid.                Click for larger image.
Washington D.C. has given Manila preliminary approval to export fresh banana pending measures for Manila to address the quarantine of banana pests, the Philippines’ Agriculture department said in a press release on Friday.

"The [United States’ Department of Agriculture, or USDA] move brings us one step closer to our goal of providing our local banana growers the opportunity to penetrate the lucrative US mainland market," the statement quoted Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap as saying.

Last month, the USDA sent to the local Agriculture department its risk assessment report on Philippine fresh banana.

Mr. Yap, who accompanied President Gloria M. Arroyo in a week-long working visit that ended August 5, said this development highlights the government’s target of increasing farm output and farmers’ incomes by expanding and exploring markets for the agriculture produce.

The report said the US allowed the entry of fresh banana to the US continental mainland, including Alaska, if mitigating measures are put in place to address 14 quarantined pests the USDA identified.

Some of the identified pests may not be present in the Philippines or does not attack hard green banana, the Agriculture department’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) said in a report to the USDA.

Pests identified by the USDA include the banana rasp snail, red palm Mite, two-spotted mite, banana root borer, banana aphid and the mealybug.

The USDA will develop the risk management measures, using its risk assessment report in consultation with the BPI.

Manila asked Washington in December 2005 to allow fresh banana exports to the US mainland, as well as to Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands in September 2007, BPI Director Joel S. Rudinas said in the statement.

BusinessWorld Online: RP gets provisional approval to export fresh bananas to US mainland