For more information, contact Ken Love, president, at 323-2417 or Ken@mycoffee.net; or Virginia Easton Smith, Extension agent, 322-4892 or vsmith@hawaii.edu.
Fruit growers meeting on Monday
The next meeting of the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at the University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Office in Kainaliu.
Jyotsna Krishnakumar, a graduate student from the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management will talk about the current avocado survey project. The surveys of growers, chefs and consumers will be used to help growers increase market share in Hawaii.
Currently, farmers grow and sell about 860,000 pounds in the state yet import more than 1.5 million pounds from California and Chile. Estimates of wasted local avocados run as high as 3 million pounds per year. Another goal of this and additional planned projects are to raise the prices growers of avocados receive, from the average of 65 cents a pound to $1 per pound.
Members will also hear about a planned avocado branding project for cultivars selected by the surveys.
Members are asked to bring avocados and other fruit for sampling.
For more information, contact Ken Love, president, at 323-2417 or Ken@mycoffee.net; or Virginia Easton Smith, Extension agent, 322-4892 or vsmith@hawaii.edu.