The Hawaii Department of Agriculture awarded $1.5 million to six agricultural business operations in the Islands as part of its Grow Hawaii Agriculture Initiative 2021, officials with the state agency recently announced.
The program, a collaboration with the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, aims to help established local agricultural enterprises scale up production and increase the state’s gross domestic product. Award recipients were selected based on demonstrated business success, a need for funding to expand commercial production, and the existence of a business model that contributes to the growth of Hawaii agriculture.
Program funding was provided by the Hawaii State Legislature in 2020.
The six recipients, that received $250,000 each for their project proposals, were Agrefab LLC on Oahu to expand farm operations and scale up its agricultural drying and juicing facility; Hawaiian Golden Farm on Oahu and Kauai to expand acreage and automate its farming operation; Kawamata Farms, LLC on Hawaii Island to expand its hydroponic greenhouse operation; Malama Kauai to expand the Moloaa AINA Center food hub to provide processing facilities, technical assistance programming and expanded aggregation and distribution services for more than 100 Kauai farmers, ranchers and food producers; SK Natural Farms, LLC on Oahu to establish a small animal harvest unit for hog farmers to address supply chain bottlenecks and increase local pork production; and Zhao Produce Inc. on Oahu to expand its Thai and Italian basil production.
“The program was impressed with the quality of the 45 proposals it received from diverse agricultural businesses,” said Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture, in a statement. “The proposals were awarded to businesses with proven track records of success and that have demonstrated the ability to significantly increase agricultural production and expand markets for Hawaii-grown commodities.”
