As Maui continues to contend with the aftermath of its devastating wildfires, which are are responsible for more than 100 deaths and a swath of destruction, there’s an initiative that’s emerging to help rebuild in the region--particularly in agriculture.
Photo: Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization.
Ken Love of Hawaiian Tropical Fruit Growers Corp. says Maui is currently accumulating fruit trees as part of the donation efforts. “It’s very early but a year or two from now, people will be looking for trees for landscaping. We’re hoping to do that with fruit trees so we’re trying to collect a couple of thousand trees to donate to people displaced by the fires. That way they can think about using those trees as a major part of their reconstruction,” he says.
The initiative is largely seeing donations of citrus, avocado and mango trees. “Pineapples are easily propagated so if there’s a basket of pineapple shoots, people can just take some plant them. They’re always available,” Love says. (He’d noted earlier this week that the pineapple growing areas of Maui are mostly in the middle of the island as opposed to around Lahaina, which has been affected by the fires.)
Improving local supplies
While the initiative is part of the rebuilding efforts within the wildfire-affected regions, it’s also about feeding people says Love. “Ultimately Hawaii needs to be more self-sustainable and the more fruit trees that are planted, the closer we get to that goal,” he says, noting for example that Hawaii imports more avocados and lemons than it grows. “We want to reclaim our markets and we’re working towards import substitution with locally grown produce. For us to import some 22 million lbs. of oranges is ridiculous because ours are sweeter in terms of Brix.”
Photo: County of Maui
For now, it looks as though none of the growing operations have been seriously impacted by the fires. Love says that a few smaller farms were affected by the natural disaster though they were largely smaller backyard farms that participate in the local food distribution network.
For more information:
Ken Love
Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Corp.
https://www.htfg.org/