The amount of land used for agriculture in Hawaii has declined 68 percent since 1980, primarily because of the end of pineapple and sugar cultivation, said the Washington Post. “Now the corn seed industry is the state’s dominant agricultural land user, followed by commercial forestry and macadamia nuts. But none of those products, not even when combined, come anywhere close to filling the economic void created by the loss of sugar and pineapple.”
State agriculture director Scott Enright says, “There are tens of thousands of acres of good ag land, at least, currently sitting fallow in Hawaii, where we have some of the most expensive land in the world.” At the same time, 90 percent of Hawaii’s food supply is imported, and consumers pay some of the highest prices in the nation for milk and eggs, says the Post. Gov. David Ige has set a goal of doubling local food production by 2030, but there are few obvious paths to reaching that goal.
The state Agriculture Department “is narrowing its focus to court outside capital for investments in Hawaii food production and is studying the possibility of allowing farmers to inhabit small family homes alongside their crop beds,” said the Post. “Tenant farming is now restricted on state agriculture land.”
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., the operator of the state’s last sugar plantation, has converted 4,500 acres of its 36,000 acres to other uses, including a grass-fed cattle ranch and 1,500 acres of sweet potatoes and energy crops. “Another 800 acres are being considered for an agricultural park for small-scale, local farmers,” said the Post.