Aug. 1 is the registration deadline for the 24th annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference, to be staged Sept. 12-14 at the Kahili Golf Course. All attendees registering on time enjoy a discounted fee of up to $75; visit hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org for details.
Aug. 1 is the registration deadline for the 24th annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference, to be staged Sept. 12-14 at the Kahili Golf Course. All attendees registering on time enjoy a discounted fee of up to $75; visit hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org for details.
Geared toward farmers, educators, orchard managers and proponents of sustainable agriculture, the weeklong event is presented by the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG) and open to the public.
The conference is titled “It’s All About Production” and offers a variety of breakout sessions, plus visiting researchers and agro experts. Professor Roger Leakey, crop physiologist, will give the keynote address, “The Domestication of Tropical Trees as New Fruit and Nut Crops.” Leakey is the former director of research at the International Center for Research in Agroforestry and professor of agroecology and sustainable development at James Cook University in Australia.
Other speakers will include tree-pruning expert Yoshimi Yonemoto of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, who will offer “Training and Pruning for Production.” He will demonstrate how to keep mangos less than 5 feet tall and produce copious amount of fruit, while Dr. John Preece of the USDA and National Clonal Germplasm Repository in California will discuss “Vegetative Propagation of Difficult Woody Plants.”
Considered the world’s leading expert on post-harvest technology, the University of Hawaii’s Robert Paull will give a dinner presentation about “Phenology, Productivity and Profits.” HTFG Executive Director Ken Love said intimate breakout sessions will cover specific crops, while delving into a wide range of topics such as “Selling to Whole Foods” by Steve Carey and “Soil Vitality and On-Farm Mentoring” by Vince Mina. Breakout presenters will include Scot Nelson, Gabe Sachter-Smith, Craig Elevitch, Tom Baldwin, Brian Lievens, Leakey, Yonemoto, Preece and Paull. In addition, there will be a Sunday roundtable and panel discussion touching on marketing and “Where Do We Go from Here?”
The annual gathering continues Sept. 15-19 with day-long mini sessions in Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, Hilo and Kona. Mini-conferences will include presentations by speakers, plus on-site visits to member’s farms and greenhouses.
Registration forms and fee schedule are available at www.htfg.org or by contacting Love at kenlove@hawaiiantel.net or Mark Suiso at suiso@aloha.net.
Marking its 25th year, HTFG was incorporated in 1989 to promote tropical fruit grown in Hawaii. It is a statewide association of tropical fruit growers, packers, distributors and hobbyists dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing and promotion.