COM 0931.019 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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V AGRICULTURE Agriculture has been a great base for tax revenue for the. State of I-lawaii for many years However in recent years, due to the vacating of land of large producers, agriculture has become less of a tax base than in previous years To try and replace such a vast operation seems to be almost unattainable. There are products however, which can be grown that could create a largo revenue per acrd and create sufficient income to help enhance the Ctrs. base in Hawaii's future. Hawmi is very fortunate in the fact that it has every growing clmate in the world--from sea level and rain torests, to arid and desert-like land. Almost every temperonno and rainftll condition can be duplicated somewhere in the islands of Hawaii- Thee arc vast acreages which are adaptable to all kinds of products. We do understand that there are some obstacles to growing crops in Hawaii--one being lh. 1; nit fly and of course, other pcstilents. The fruit fly stems to be the number one - Other pcstileuts can be controlled with the proper use of insecticide or radiation. The fruit th could be obliterated or made harmless through radiation. The use of radiation would be an ideal processing tool, and would be simpler and less harmful, than trying to erase the blighr. by pesticides or other mate ialy However, it is believed that to make it mdiatron treatment plant ccononucally feasible, it woulel require 30 million pounds of product processed through the phmt. It could take sevontt years fur Hawaii to be able to produce these quantities. Lacking file quantity to process makes a radiation treatment plant almost an impossibility because private capital would need a faster return on its money than a radiation plant could produce at this time. It could also be difficult to get sufficient federal or state moneys to underwrite the operation until such time as it could become a feasible operation - A centrally located radiation treatment plant would also require a freight system sufficient to move the product from island to island or another destination-, Radiation treatment could be a godsend in the sense that it would save much processing of different types of products such as papaya and lychee. It is also possible that radiation treatment could treat potted plants in such a manner that it could kill the burrowing nematodes which would make potted plants salable anywhere. This could open a huge market in greenhouse plants and certainly open up markets for other crops and exotic plants. We understand that there are grants available for producing "agricultural products" meaning vegetables and such edible crops. However it is our understanding that these grants arc not available for crops that are termed horticultural such as exotic flowers and plants. Regardless 2