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Okabe: Any other public testimony today? <br />There was no public testimony. <br />Okabe: Hearing none. Commissioners, are there any discussions or questions that <br />you might have? <br />Espejo: I have a question, you know a lot about coconuts. <br />Zaldivar: I do. <br />Espejo: Can you grow a coconut tree that's not so high? <br />Zaldivar: That's all I've been planting over the last four years, it's called a Samoan <br />dwarf tree and only grows about 6-7 feet, and you can harvest right off the ground, <br />there's no climbing and you can walk around the farm without getting hit in the head <br />with a coconut. So, that's exactly what we're planting because it's not only better for <br />tourism and touring because it's not dangerous, but it's easier to manage the rhinoceros <br />beetles. The rhinoceros beetle likes to go to the top, and if it's 80 feet high, you can't <br />get to the crown, but if it's down here, you can manage it and also the fruit, it only takes <br />five years to harvest trees instead of 15 years on the talls. So, all the energy has to <br />bring the water way sky high first, instead it kicks out more coconuts and more juice on <br />the ground. <br />Espejo: And the yield is about the same? <br />Zaldivar: The yield is 5X more, you get more coconuts per tree per year on the <br />shorties, yes. <br />Espejo: Thank you. <br />Greenwell: Can you educate us a little bit about your fears or your understanding of <br />the rhinoceros beetle? <br />Zaldivar: My understanding of the beetle is that, usually nature creates pests to clean <br />up the sick, so the rhinoceros beetle started showing up more because a lot of the <br />coconut trees are a lot older, and we haven't been planting trees like we should be. So, <br />a lot of the trees are already at the end of their stages, and they're almost dormant, <br />they're not producing many coconuts. The rhinoceros beelte is cleaning up that, a lot of <br />it, but then also the mismanagement of the lands, if you have healthy soil and you have <br />a healthy ecosystem, you're not going to have those pests as much and you can <br />manage it. But, if you just leave everything to be on its own, it's not managed, you're <br />going to have stuff like that. <br />Greenwell: Thank you. <br />Zaldivar: Yes, you're welcome. <br />MINUTES - LIQUOR COMMISSION MEETING - THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2025 - HILO PAGE 8 OF 28 <br />