Agriculture

Not Horsing Around

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Not Horsing Around

Molokai high school students and younger keiki found their inner-paniolo as they trotted and galloped across the red dirt at this weekend’s Hawaii High School Rodeo Association (HHSRA)’s first matchup, at Molokai Ranch Arena.

With cattle mooing in the background, a sunny day and a slight wind, it was a perfect combination for a competitive wrangling.

“I remember when a lot of these kids would have to be walked around the barrels - now they are running around by themselves,” Jimmy said.

The next HHSRA rodeo will be March 26 and 27 at the Molokai Ranch Arena, beginning at 9 a.m.

Rodeo results will be posted at TheMolokaiDispatch.com this week, and be in next week’s Dispatch.


Organic Farming Given Funding

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Organic farming is easier on the environment, but even organic practices need safeguards. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is offering financial assistance to National Organic Program certified organic producers.

 

The funding gives current growers’ opportunity to address their existing resource concerns, such as soil and plant conditions, as well as new organic producers, according to Lawrence T. Yamamoto, NRCS Director for the Pacific Islands Area. This assistance will be provided through the Organic Initiative of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

 

Farmers Seed

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

Farmers Seed

Community Contributed

By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources

Ever since man gave up his nomadic hunting and gathering existence, and settled down to a piece of land to grow food, he has selected and refined seeds. Through constant selection, lowly grasses became nutritious grains, and wild tubers and corms became vital staples. From the Native Americans who have been cultivating beans, corn, squashes for centuries, to the first Polynesians who arrived in Hawaii, to the immigrants still arriving on these shores today, these groups contributed their important crops to the cornucopia of foods we eat today.

At one time, our congressional representatives were one of the main sources of new seeds, and distributed them as they met constituents in their home state. With the establishment of land-grant universities starting in the mid-1800s, new varieties of seeds were bred and selected for specific locations within a state.

In its heyday, the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH-CTAHR) developed many vegetable seed varieties, and also worked closely with farmers to develop these selections. Dr. Jim Gilbert, with a background in plant diseases and genetics, was instrumental in the success of vegetable farming in Hawaii through his work on disease-resistant crops. He developed Kailua and Kahala soybeans, Healani and Anahu tomatoes, Waianae Wonder and Hawaiian Wonder pole beans, among others.


Vegetable breeding at the universities nationwide reached its low point about 25 years ago as seed companies took on a larger role of breeding and developing new varieties. This change was not beneficial to Hawaii with its unique environmental conditions, creating special challenges for local farmers. For example, seed companies focus on developing seeds with tolerance to frost and early maturity due to their short growing season. More recently, seed companies have undergone major consolidation as small companies have been swallowed up by multi-national chemical companies, and with it, less seed varieties are available today with many varieties lost forever.
 
Universities have formed partnerships with local farmers to develop new varieties of interest to farmers in the area. One example is long purple eggplant, an oriental crop and one preferred type for Hawaii’s markets.  About 20 years ago, the UH-CTAHR conducted a long eggplant trial at the Waimanalo Research Station on Oahu. Mr. Nitta, an eggplant farmer from Waianae, was not impressed with the trial. His seed selections were included in the field trials, where his varieties had twice the yield of UH selections Waimanalo Long and Molokai Long. Knowing a good thing, UH breeder Jack Tanaka crossed the Nitta lines with the UH selections, creating Nitta Waimanalo Long Hybrid and Nitta Molokai Long Hybrid. These two selections are clearly superior in yield, quality, and appearance to their parents.

In 1990, I met Mr. Nitta at a farm conference on Oahu, and asked him where he had found this eggplant seed. He replied, “From a garden behind a little store on the east side of Molokai.” I’m pretty sure he meant the Neighborhood Store, and it was probably a garden grown by the Quinones family or a relative. The reason why this variety had twice as many fruits is a multiple flowering characteristic found in some Filipino eggplant varieties. Instead of one flower coming out like most eggplants, two emerged, which gave it twice the yield of a normal long eggplant.

Seeds developed for Hawaii’s unique climatic conditions and challenges can mean the difference between success and failure in farming, but sometimes we don’t have to look far to find superior seed.

MPL Hoping for Land Designation

Monday, February 7th, 2011

MPL Hoping for Land DesignationMolokai Properties Ltd. (MPL) is petitioning the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to designate about 5,000 acres of its west end grazing lands under a 99-year Important Agriculture Land classification. But that designation hangs in the balance as the state decides if ranching land qualifies for the zoning change.If granted, Peter Nicholas, CEO of MPL, would lease the land to local rancher Jimmy Duvauchelle under a 20-year contract. Besides cattle ranching, the land would also host 4-H events and rodeos according the MPL propsal.Duvauchelle, who said he has ranched west Molokai his entire life, currently owns Pohakuloa Ranch which is situated on 3,000 acres within the proposed designated area. The ranch employs about seven cowboys and other staff.Duvauchelle also manages Diamond B Ranch for its Maui owner, Brendan Balthazar, also a lessee of MPL. The land designation would allow Duvauchelle to take over the 1000 acres of Diamond B Ranch which is also within MPL’s petitioned area.

Duvauchelle says he is confident that with the go-ahead of the proposed classification, he can double his herd from about 250 to 500 cattle.A Scrutinized Review Last week, the Land Use Commission and the DOA visited the site and discussed the designation’s merits with members of the public. The two government agencies oversee Important Land Designation (IAL) petitions.However, MPL’s petition is receiving scrutiny. In a letter to MPL, DOA stated several reasons why the land might not qualify as IAL.One reason includes a lack of information provided by MPL, “particularly when involving agricultural lands with challenging soil [and] water availability.”The DOA also wrote that because the primary use of the land would be ranching, competition for food sources between deer and cattle would cause a “handicap” for increasing cattle operations. DOA also states IALs are not intended for “accessory activities” such as deer hunting, or rodeos.A Supporting Community Many of Duvauchelle’s friends and family spoke in support of the designation.“The IAL designation will enhance agricultural activities on Molokai for years to come,” said homesteader Adolph Helm. “Not only will it help Jimmy, but it will help many businesses in the community.”If successful, the designation could provide MPL up to $7.5 million in tax breaks. The money could be claimed “for roads or utilities, agricultural processing facilities, water wells, reservoirs, dams, pipelines, agricultural housing, feasibility studies, legal and accounting services, and equipment,” according to information on the DOA Web site.However, when asked about the potential for irrigation development under the proposed designation, Nicholas said in an earlier meeting, that MPL had no plans other than allowing Duvauchelle to ranch the property.Lori Buchanan, who sits on the Molokai Planning Commission, said she agreed with DOA opinion.“There’s actually nothing that I can’t concur with in the DOA’s letter of objection. It’s all correct,” she said.Steve Chaikin, chairman of the Molokai Planning Commission, said that “whether they succeed or fail in their request, it will set a precedent for others who want to do the same thing.”“I don’t think [DOA and Land Use Commission’s] original intent was to allow for that type of land to be allowed in that [IAL] program.”

Victory Gardens

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Victory Gardens

Community Contributed

By Glenn Teves, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources

In 1943, our nation was at war, and resources of all kinds were being diverted to the war effort. The government rationed foods like sugar, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, coffee, meat and canned goods. Gas rationing, coupled with labor and transportation shortages, made it difficult to harvest and transport fruits and vegetables to market. As a result, the government turned to its citizens and encouraged them to plant "Victory Gardens" so families could provide for their own fruits and vegetables.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt led the call to plant gardens and even planted one on the White House lawn. At first, the Department of Agriculture (DOA) objected to this initiative, fearing that such a movement would hurt the food industry. Government agencies, private foundations, businesses, schools and seed companies all worked together to provide land, instruction and seeds for individuals and communities to grow food and promote self-reliance. A 20-minute film developed by the DOA explained how to create a garden, and it was shown far and wide. Victory gardens also allowed more resources to be shipped to the troops. Even the island of Molokai got involved and grew fields of Irish potatoes in the Ho`olehua Hawaiian Home Lands to support the war effort.


As a result, more than 20 million victory gardens were planted. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots was estimated to be nine to 10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh vegetables. Victory gardeners had produced about 50 percent of all the vegetables in the nation that year. Families were encouraged to can their own vegetables to save commercial canned goods for the troops. As a result, families bought 315,000 pressure cookers (used in the process of canning) in 1943, compared to 66,000 in 1942. By 1946, with the war ended, the growing of gardens slowed in anticipation of greater produce availability with men returning from the war.

The post-war global economy brought many changes to the way we live, through marketing messages of consumerism and a reliance on others. A whole generation of baby boomers knows it no other way. As the population ages, we’re losing the experiences of the Great Depression and World War II. Our parents and grandparents, who experienced these struggles embraced the values of “use-it-up, wear-it-out, make-it-do, or do-without” out of necessity. These are the values that once defined our rural communities, and it’s difficult to tell if we embrace the same values today. Have we really learned from the struggles of the past, or are we living in the ‘I want it now’ disposable generation?

Today, many are struggling in the midst of this recession, and that makes many insecure about their food, especially when we live in one of the most isolated places in the world – 2,000 miles away from the closest major food producing areas. The global economy is out of our hands and we have no way of influencing it. Those with a keen instinct to survive in tough times are returning to the fundamentals, including gardening. Polls indicate that two million more households grew vegetables in 2008 than in 2007, and 2009 results indicate that there’s been a 20 percent increase over 2008. In March 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama planted an 1,100-square-foot "Kitchen Garden" on the White House lawn, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt's, to raise awareness about healthy food.  If the first lady can do it, so can we, and it all starts with a small plot of land and some seeds. Next time, we’ll talk about seeds.

Wind, Cable on the Table

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism News Release

With Lanai’s wind farm taking a tentative step forward, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) are seeking public comment at meetings on Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Oahu regarding the Hawaii Interisland Renewable Energy Program (HIREP), and the Wind Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  

A meeting will be held on Molokai on Feb. 3 at the Mitchell Pauole Center at 5:30 p.m.

The EIS reviews possible environmental impacts that may arise from wind energy program development under the HIREP and the range of reasonable options.

Wharf Construction To Begin

Monday, December 13th, 2010

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