Cherry blossam festival opens at nago city in okinawa pref. This week.It is 19’c in noon.I am glad coming up spring.
But drift ice came up from Russia to siretoko peninsule in hokkaidoNow.Osaka.
Hi Osaka-san ,
>> I am glad coming up spring <<
Here in Holland we will have to wait a full month at least. Februari is mid winter still and early March too sometimes. I know Okinawa is always very early, but so early is a surprise for me. We had a cold but very crisp & clear & healthy day and I was outside most of the day. Warm clothes of course <g>..
I like winter, but spring will be nice too for me!!
Enjoy the cherry blossoms, because once they are gone you will have to wait a whole year to experience the blossoms again in Okinawa.
We visited Okinawa one year with a group from Hawaii during the Eisa Festival, and it was the most enjoyable visit with the most friendly people of Okinawa! You have a beautiful country.
Keep warm, with little sips of sa-ke, and some andagi.
Aloha, welcome to the forum. It's been awhile since Osaka, the person you wrote to has been on the forum. He's from Osaka city and had some bad eye troubles so I dont think he can access anymore.We miss him here.
After 30 years of having a place in Japan and working in many locations there, I've still not been to Okinawa although one of the guys I work with at times is from there but comes to Kona every other year or so. http://www.ocvb.or.jp/card/en/0140000166.html is about the matsuri there if others are interested.
Are you in Hawaii too?
Ken
Hello, Ken!
As to your question, no, I am not in Hawaii but did join up with a Paranku group that went to Okinawa, and who also performed at their Eisa festival.
Ken, are you into agriculture? For some reason your name seems to be affiliated with the wonderful varieties of avocados grown in the islands. Ah, and the lichees, longans, rambutans, jac fruits, star fruit, atemoyas, papayas .etc, etc, all the exotic fruits that you folks can raise in the islands! But for that pesky fruit fly that prevents the growers from really benefitting financially via exports!
How about spraying to eliminate those pesky pests, or establishing irradiation plants so we can import, and enjoy some of your luscious stuff!
We didn't notice any flies, mosquitos and other bugs during our visit to Okinawa. Might be a lesson here somewhere!
Hi,Sounds like it was a great trip for you. My friends wife teaches taiko in Tokyo. I never asked her about paranku.
Yes im involved in tropical agriculture and research exotic fruit growing and marketing.
The fruit flies really dont bother much of the fruit but we cant ship it because of California's lobbying efforts for the past 100 years. Actually this is the 100th aniv. year of themkeeping avocado fruit from Hawaii out of the mainland. Guess they are afraid that once people try real avocados from Hawaii, no one will buy that junk from chile and mexico and calif.!In almost 30 years of growing here, I've never seen a fruit fly in a healthy avocado. Even the feds acknowledge this. MY project is to build up local markets first though.There is an irradiator in Hilo but no approved treatment for many of the fruits. Each variety has to be approved. The problem is also that the process often destroys the flavor as well as the nutrients in fruit. Many places, like Japan, prohibit importation of irradiated fruit too. Thanks to a program started a few years ago fruit flies have not been a major problem in other fruit when growers use lures and traps. It just takes time to break back into the market -- well for us to have enough for our local markets and get the stores to feature local produce.
take careken
Your efforts at developing the local market for exotic fruits grown in the islands has had far reaching effects in that people visiting the islands have been able to broaden their tastes for different fruits, and then telling their friends on the mainland. Hawaii could become the exotic fruit capital of the U.S. with the capabilities of growing just about any known tropical fruit, and with tremendous export potential. We on the West coast have to contend with frozen lichee, longans, rambutans, durian that have lost the fruity taste, and are shipped in from the Far East...........yet customers continue to flock to purchase the frozen products!
I do agree with you regarding the local avocados. Somehow the fruit from S. America, and even California does not have the full, rich, and unusually buttery taste of your fruit. I suspect though, that the local Safeway Market has imported fruits for sale on their produce shelves.
California's effort to protect their multi-billion dollar fruit/vegetable industry from infestation is understandable as so much is exported. Fruit fly infestation was noted one year at a number of locations in the state, and the governor declared an emergency. Fruit trees were stripped of their fruits, and various cities in S. & N. California had to go through the indignity of having to be sprayed by air with Malathion!
Thanks for the exchange. I still don't recall whether I connected your name with agriculture through a friend, or perhaps an earlier periodical.
Dennis
Hi DennisCould be you found me on the rare fruit group on yahoo or the Calif. rare fruit growers. Been doing this awhile now.
I do think that current events are starting to help people become more aware of the impact of imports. Carbon footprint etc. It still amazes me that in the 60s hawaii was 95% self sufficient in produce and now its only 20%.We grow and sell 860,000 lbs of avocados in hawaii yet import 1.5 million pounds and waste about 3 million.The focus really needs to change. Here it changed in 1999 when safeway, costco and kmart opened. safeway is the worst offender as they wont sell local fruit at all. Sometimes I think the farmers here need to have all their trucks breakdown in front of the place.
take careKen
Hey, Ken!
That's distressing news, that 3 million pounds of avocados are wasted..... That's a lot of good guacamole to the landfills!..........not only that, but the fertilizers, time involved, pesticides, etc, etc. Seems like exporting is the answer for better returns to the growers, and forget about dealing with Safeway for the present. They can get it cheaper with a better markup via Central & S. America -- even after shipping all the way to Hawaii.
We were in Vancouver, Canada one year and had the most delicious papayas, and star-fruit, and the proprietor at the fruit stand at Lonsdale Quay stated that the fruits came from Kauai, Hawaii! Now if Kauai could do it, why not the Big Island, or even Hawaii as a whole?? Does Kauai have an irradiation plant? The West Coast Asians would do back-flips for some of those Jac fruit, rambutans, longans and other fruits that you folks grow there. Ken, I think you're into something that has so much potential with a tremdous impact on the local economy because we on the mainland are already exposed to the tastes of most of the exotic fruits that you folks grow there! A little marketing for the exotic fruits from the ALOHA State, and growers would be rushing to the banks!...........................of course, first you still have to deal with those pesky fruit fly problem. But can you imagine the possibilities once this stumbling block is removed, or problem solved...........growers would probably be cursing for having had so much time & resources wasted. I am glad to learn that you are doing what you are doing in the islands, not only for the particular field, but also for the people.
Regards.
Hi Dennis,Most of the avos just fall and are fed to pigs, its an amazing amount of waste. A lot of them are from 50 foot trees and no way to harvest anyway but still there is enough to take over the local market.The first step before export although there are a fair amount already sent to Canada which is more relaxed than the US. Some of the fruit from here is smuggled South and has been known to show up in LA but it's much tougher to do now than a few years ago i'm told. Generally the wholesalers can get small amounts much cheaper than from here. Our cost of production is just too high. We couldnt hire farm workers for $15. an hour and Kona has the lowest unemployment rate in the US. Labor is a major issue.
The only irradiation plant is in Hilo which does send rambutan, lychee, longon and a few other things to Canada and mainland US but that adds considerably to the cost. The USDA relaxed the rules for the Thai irradiators but not the Hilo one -- go figure.. Irts not the fruit flies that are the problem, just the politicians and wholesalers who focus more on their wallets than on the issues or what the growers need.
take care
I misunderstood your post on the avocado wastage, and had assumed the waste occurring from the commercial growers' acreage, not from 50' tall trees whose fruit would not meet shipping grade. However, the great export potential for island fruits is still evident. but someone really has to take the lead. Hawaii has great papayas, but Mexico, Chile, and Peru have taken the lead with individual sized table fruit, compared to the exported product from Hawaii which looks partly cooked, or blotched from some sort of treatment.
As for the irradiation plant, perhaps Hawaii should send a trade delegation to find out what the Thais are doing right with their plant that Hawaii is doing wrong so the Hilo plant can go full production. Nothing like a little spying on your competitor! Why not suggest that, Ken, and maybe be one of the delegates?
We tasted a delicious fruit while in British Columbia, in Beijing, and also on a European trip which was called Dragon Fruit, and wondered whether this was grown in Hawaii. It had a wonderful watermelon, fuji apple, honey-dew combination taste, & great salad table display. Ah, the possibilities in Hawaii!
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Your right there is a hugh potential here for sales of fruit. Most of it to local markets though. Growers here cannot compete on price with SE Asia, South America, Mexico and others. Those who have tried have moved into something totally different and found a good local market.
Often the 50ft trees are great quality if there was a coop and cherry picker that was able to let people access it. At the same time people need to replant different types at various elevations to keep the supply year around.
The Thais copied the Hawaii and Chicago plants as well as one in test facility in Belfast. The whole papaya thing is a different issue.
Dragon fruit or pitaya is common here in the local market. as of yet there is no export rule but even when there is one,later this year, they will not be able to compete with Thailand and Vietnam for the pink and red fruits or Columbia for the Yellow fruit. They wholesale the fruit for less than our cost to grow it.
Hello!
Discussions on exotic fruits can extend into so many different directions from eating, canning, drying, exporting, other businesses internationally that it becomes a fascinating, and somewhat thought-provoking topic..........and you're in the midst of it with your specialty.
So what are your thoughts on the future potential of the island fruits ten years from now since the demise of the sugar & pineapple industries, and the heavy reliance on tourism as reported? Has the university somehow gotten involved with courses to assist with the advances of the fruit industry to replace sugar/pineapple, and to help growers? I was told once on a flight that Iceland has minor exports in bananas, and some citrus fruit which I recalled reacting to it like a joke, until reading an article how they utilize their geothermal heat & power in green/hot houses. Can you imagine, if it was true, bananas from Iceland!............or even the possibilities......
We just picked up some dried jac fruit from the local Asian market, and will give it a taste test............seems to smell the same. Tasted durian icecream in Canada which was delicious! O-mai, o-mai!
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I sure am neck deep in this tropical fruit biz in Hawaii.
I think both UH and growers here have realized that they cannot survive on mono or duo cropping and that they must focus more on greater crop diversification and marketing.It works hand in hand with tourism industry. Agtourism has been growing more quickly than any other segment and we have a new state organization dedicated to it.The university s still reactive and not as proactive as it could be but there are those working from within to change that. There are a few specialists and agents who focus on alternative and organic crops which is starting to make inroads --- especially with helps from the feds. My knew project for UH is to do variety trials for more than 30 types of figs and develop markets for them. Pineapple is still the #1 crop produced in hawaii. Amazing isnt it. Not as much as Iceland though. I didnt remember reading about it but it doesnt surprise me. The Top banana researcher in the world lives in Finland!
We do a lot of dried jackfruit too. Great stuff. Half dried and dipped in chocolate is really good too.
The dried jackfruit wasn't that good, but I soaked some to rehydrate them and it tasted fine, and full bodied. I thought this would be good preserved like some of the preserved mango & seeds that oriental stores sell. Now your half-dried j-fruit dipped in chocolate sounds exotic, and would be marketable .........like strawberries dipped in chocolate that carries a nice price tag!
I love figs, and have often thought that one of my two fig plants was a Turkish, and the other a Kadota which I paid $l2.95 for when it was only 1 foot tall. The Turkish has given us loads of fruits which we love to eat with ice cream, and give to friends. As for the Kadota, well, it has given us black figs for two years now, and I suspect that it was mislabeled by a nursery worker. Incidentally, that's another marketing possibility for your project............... rooted cuttings for nurseries or retail stores. So many possibilities!
CalPoly State University did a pilot solar drying unit for one of the raisin growers in California, which might be an interesting project for the local university since there are so many different fruits grown in the island, and drying could be another solution. It would be neat getting some dried fruits, or trail mixes produced in tropical Hawaii! You are in an interesting specialty.
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We sell all the dry jackfruit we can produce though localharvest.orgI wish it was easier to do more here. The problem is the best place to dry fruit if it was going to be done on a commercial level would be at the OTECH place near the airport only they wont allow it as they think it will bring in too many birds and insects that might affect the airplanes. If I do it at my house, the cost of energy here is higher than anyplace in the world and thats passed on to you. cant compete on price with thailand and other places with dry any more than fresh.
We sell a lot of plants too but I have a grant to test a lot of types of figshttp://www.hawaiifruit.net/index-figs.html
I have to head down and harvest more now.take care
