AHR capped its first century by honoring our exceptional students, staff, faculty, and friends at the Centennial Homecoming and Awards Celebration, held April 12, 2007 at Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. UH President David McClain, U.S. Representative Mazie Hirono, and Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture Chairwoman Sandra Kunimoto addressed the gathering, paying tribute to the important roles that    ... more >>

2006, Hawai‘i’s 7.4 million visitors spent a record $12 billion. The state’s agricultural sales total about $2 billion. Ag-tourism, the intersection of these two industries, benefits both sectors. Farm tours and on-farm sales, roadside stands, farmers’ markets, farmer/chef collaborations, living-history farms, and agricultural events help Hawai‘i’s farmers and ranchers create    ... more >>

uit fly pests have plagued Hawai‘i farmers since 1895. Today the state is home to four invasive fruit fly species, each of which attacks a different set of fruits and fleshy vegetables. Together, they cost the state many tens of millions of dollars per year in direct losses, quarantine costs, and the inability to establish commercial production of vulnerable host crops. In 2000, the U.S. Department o    ... more >>

re than 60 percent of Hawai‘i’s children under age six live with working parents. For most of these youngsters, child care providers play a vital role in sparking their curiosity and preparing them for school. Recognizing the importance of the early years, the State of Hawai‘i’s Department of Human Services is funding the Quality Care Program to enhance the care that Hawai‘i’s    ... more >>

April 2005 a UH student in Manoa spotted strange swellings on the leaves of a coral tree (wiliwili haole), damage caused by a newly invasive wasp. Within months, the erythrina gall wasp (Quadrastichus erythrinae) had spread statewide. From attractive ornamentals to the tall wiliwili (‘Tropic Coral’) used in windbreaks to the native wiliwili of Hawai‘i’s dry forests, trees in the    ... more >>

e years since September 11, 2001 have challenged America’s military families. More than 1.5 million soldiers have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, including more than 420,000 reservists and members of the National Guard. These deployments have affected many island households. Our state is home to more than 44,000 military personnel, and active-duty servicepersons and their dependents together make up    ... more >>

od ideas are infectious. One good idea, a Kaua‘i tradition for more than a decade, has spread south to O‘ahu and the Big Island. This year marked Kaua‘i’s 11th annual Agricultural and Environmental Awareness Day, an education fair for fifth graders hosted by CTAHR’s Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Center and supported by the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau, the county’s Office    ... more >>

ch of Hawai‘i’s surface water infrastructure was developed by sugar plantations during the late 1800s and early 1900s. With the collapse of the sugar industry, many aging irrigation systems have fallen into disrepair. Through the efforts of Hawai‘i’s congressional delegation, federal funding has been made available to examine these agricultural water systems, estimate the cost of restoring    ... more >>

April 22, 2007, an annual event then in its fifth decade drew a lunchtime crowd of more than 750 to the Sheraton Waikiki. The 2007 spring fashion show presented by students in CTAHR’s Apparel Product Design and Merchandising program introduced fashion fans to the work of 15 young designers. The show’s title, Centennial Seven, highlighted the years’ seven graduating design seniors—Brandie    ... more >>

r farmers, soil fertility is a high-stakes balancing act. Providing too little of a needed nutrient can lead to low yields or even crop failure. Adding too much increases your costs without improving your harvest. The stakes are also high for the environment. Runoff can carry excess fertilizer into streams, rivers, and coastal waters, where it feeds microbial activity that can suffocate fish, coral, and other    ... more >>

w many servings of fruits and vegetables should we eat each day? Five? Nine? The nationwide, private–public partnership that introduced U.S. consumers to the concept of five-a-day has new, easy-to-remember advice: however many veggie and fruit portions you currently eat, more would be better. Fruits and Veggies—More Matters encourages us to make fruits and vegetables part of every eating occasion. Fresh,    ... more >>

und throughout the tropics and subtropics, Ralstonia solanacearum causes bacterial wilt in more than 200 plant species. Annual damages to potato total $950 million worldwide. In Hawai‘i this bacterium attacks tomato, pepper, eggplant, and ginger, with culinary ginger crop losses as high as 45 percent. Because cold-tolerant strains can devastate temperate-zone crops, materials potentially infected wit    ... more >>

en the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts welcomed its first students in 1908, the entire school fit in a house on Young Street. But Hawai‘i’s land-grant college didn’t stay in one place for long. Through 4-H clubs on O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i, and Kaua‘i, the college that is now CTAHR served communities throughout the territory well before the federal government began supportin    ... more >>