Tag: university of hawai

September 7, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Hawaii law may hurt farmers | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Bid process could bring more outside competition

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai’i taxpayers will likely be paying more to buy agriculture products under a new state law aimed at supporting local growers.

Act 175 hopes to use government purchasing power to benefit local agriculture. The law, which took effect July 1, requires state agencies to gather competitive bids before buying food and other agricultural products.

It gives up to 15 percent preference to locally grown products in the bidding process. So if a Mainland grower can supply the food for $100, and a local grower bids $114, the local grower gets the contract.

"What this bill allows is for the state to use its purchasing power to procure these local products to really enhance local agriculture by giving them viable market opportunities," said Elizabeth Haws Connally, who lobbied for the change on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

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September 1, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Further study on irradiator ordered | The Honolulu Advertiser

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ruled that more work needs to be done on an environmental assessment for a produce irradiator that’s proposed for a location near Honolulu International Airport.

The commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued a ruling last week saying the NRC staff needs to consider alternate technology and sites in producing the assessment. The board’s decision said it expects the staff to give meaningful consideration to transportation accidents in preparing a final environmental assessment.

The ruling came after almost three years of discussion at the NRC, which has been considering Pa’ina Hawaii LLC’s request to build an irradiator that would use up to a million curries of cobalt-60 to treat local fruits such as papayas, vegetables and other items so they can be shipped to the Mainland insect-free.

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August 20, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

CTAHR dean details impacts of ag. inspectors layoffs | Hawaii247.org

CTAHR dean details impacts of ag. inspectors layoffs

Updated at 3:27 am, Thursday, August 20, 2009.

Andrew Hashimoto, dean and director of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, gave the following testimony to the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee about the potential impacts of laying off  Department of Agriculture staff.

I am pleased to provide personal testimony relating to the potential impacts on the community and agricultural industry on the Big Island, arising from the anticipated reduction and possible elimination of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch. This testimony does not represent the position of the University of Hawaii or CTAHR.  

Background 

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) has 329 “permanent” employees, of which 118 (approximately 36 percent) have received notices for layoff. 

The Plant Quarantine (PQ) Branch will be especially hard hit. It has a total of 78 inspectors and 16 technicians (aides).

Of that, 50 inspectors and two technicians (all general funded) have been given notices. The remainder (11 inspectors and 14 technicians) are paid from special funds.

Most of the inspectors to be laid off will be from the neighbor islands. Information on the number of layoffs for each of the other HDOA branches is not known. The impact of the layoff in the PQ branch is discussed. 

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August 17, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

BBC – Earth News – Invasion of the ‘island snatchers’

Almost 400 invasive plant species have set up home as weeds on some of the world’s most distant oceanic islands.

    Hawaii has been particularly inundated by invasive weeds. For Hawaii alone, it is said that 10,000 non-native plant taxa have been introduced to the islands. A vast majority have been deliberately introduced and
planted. 
Botanist Dr Christoph Kueffer

 

Clidemia herta<br />Click for Larger image
Clidemia herta
Click for Larger image
About half now dominate their new habitat, and hundreds more species are expected to invade these once pristine islands in the coming years.

So says the most comprehensive survey to date of invasive plants on island archipelagos.

Worse, people are mainly to blame, having repeatedly introduced these weeds into their farms and gardens.

Non-native plants and animals can be extremely destructive.

But while it is undisputed that many invasive animals such as rats and cats pose a major threat to biodiversity, it is less clear what role invasive plants play in changing native habitats.

So botanist Dr Christoph Kueffer of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and colleagues across Europe analysed how many species of invasive plants have become established on island archipelagos.

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August 9, 2009 General Ag News and Notes 1 Comment

TheGardenIsland.com > Business > Kauai Business > Path to sustainability

Hanalei Click for Larger Image
Hanalei         Click for Larger Image        
Kaua‘i  now imports approximately 90% of its daily food. This situation renders us vulnerable to interruptions in shipping, rising fuel costs and an increasing scarcity of certain foods in the face of rising world population. Some experts claim that the demand for food has already exceeded the supply. These conditions invite predictions of serious food shortages for our island at the same time that profits from our food expenditures are going to off-island suppliers rather than strengthening our local economy.

On the average the entire State only produces somewhere between 4.4 to 5.8 percent of our food supply. Specialists at the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agricultural have pointed out that if we doubled our production of local food we would be avoiding $120 million in imports and creating more than 3,000 jobs. Farm related business income would increase, they predict, by about $64 million, and of course, other economic benefits would occur.  Similar estimates regarding the benefits of increasing local food production have been suggested by Governor Lingle and also by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

TheGardenIsland.com > Business > Kauai Business > Path to sustainability

July 26, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Recent ‘Awa (Kava Kava) Harvest

Uaka Kava of Hilo Hawaii have recently restocked ‘Awa (Kava Kava) powder they make from the dried fresh root of the Mahakea variety grown on the Big Island. This powder is for sale on their website:
http://www.mauikava.com

There still continues to be a shortage of fresh root due to the disruption in planting caused by BfArM (German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) erroneously linking fresh ‘Awa root to liver damage in 2001. This was subsequently disproved by UH Scientists:

A team of University of Hawai’i scientists may have solved the mystery of why some Europeans who used products containing kava extract suffered severe liver damage, prompting a number of nations to ban sales of the herbal supplement.
Read Complete Honolulu Advertiser article . . .

There have actually been reports of health benefits from using ‘Awa root:
American Association for Cancer Research
Fiji Times

When the supply is normal Uka Kava makes dried fresh root powder processed from these varieties:Uka Kava
‘Awa Hanakapi ‘ai
‘Awa Hiwa
‘Awa Honokane Iki
‘Awa Kumakua
‘Awa Mahakea
‘Awa Mapulehu
‘Awa Pana’ewa
‘Awa Mo’i
‘Awa Nene
‘Awa ‘Opihikao
‘Awa Papa ‘Ele’ele
‘Awa Papa Kea
‘Awa Papa’ Ele’ele Pu’upu’u

During fresh root shortages Uka Kava offers their “Hang Loose Instant Kawa” product which many people prefer anyway due to ease of preparation.

Uka Kava also has a Woodworking Division which produces bowls and other objects made from exotic local woods such as Koa, Milo, Pride of India (China berry), and Norfolk pine.