Wailuku, Maui >> The growth of small farms in Hawaii is being impeded by the state’s failure to make more farm land available, a group of 10 Maui farmers told a congressional hearing yesterday.
“What is needed is pressure from the federal government on the state to release state land cheaply to people with good farming backgrounds,” Mike Durkan told Reps. Daniel K. Akaka and Richard Nolan, D-Minn., of the House Agriculture Committee.
“It is critical to have a good, strong agricultural situation in the Islands, but 90 percent of the land is owned by the state or major corporations and none of this is available to farmers to own,” Durkan said.
He said most people interested in farming are only able to obtain small tracts on a lease basis, a situation he called “inhibiting.”
Water is also a critical problem, Durkan said.
“We need a separate water system for agricultural use,” he said, and urged the congressmen to seek an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act that would permit delivery of untreated water for farming purposes.
Citing efforts by the Maui Water Department to upgrade the quality of water in the Kula area, Durkan said the county is being forced to spend “a great amount of money” to comply with the pure water act and these costs are in turn being borne by the farmers.
“Our rates have been raised up to 60 cents per 1,000 gallons, more than twice what the average farmer in California pays for water,” he said.
He said also that most of the water used in Kula is for farming and that it would make more sense if residents in the area were equipped with home filters while the area’s water was left untreated.
Another concern raised by the farmers was the difficulty they are experiencing in finding adequate labor.
Jack Vockrodt, a carnation grower who farms 10 acres in Kula, said he has had to rely on trainees from other countries such as Japan and the Philippines to meet his labor needs because of problems he has experienced in hiring “local” employees. …
Another problem cited was difficulty in pest control.
