Limited Space Available for 23rd Annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference

The 23rd Annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference is September 27-October 4 starting at Kapiolani Community College on Oahu. Titled “Best of Both Worlds,” the week-long gathering is in partnership with the California Rare Fruit Growers Fall Festival of Fruit. More than 150 people have registered to the week-long event.

Presented by the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG) and California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG), the event is geared to farmers, chefs, educators, orchard managers and proponents of sustainable agriculture. Since 2011, the confab includes stops on four Hawaiian Islands to reach out to more growers and take tours of existing agricultural operations.

Guest speakers include Chris Rollins, director of Florida’s Miami Fruit and Spice Park; Joe West, farmer of 600 unusual fruit species in Ecuador; Joe Sabol, master grafter and retired agriculture instructor at California Polytechnic State University and Roger Meyer, nurseryman for unusual species in San Diego County.

Tours on Oahu visit Frankie’s Nursery and Lyon Arboretum. The confab moves to Maui on Sept. 29 and continues to Hilo, Kona and Kauai October 1-3. Attendees will visit Ono Farms, Maui Gold Co. Ltd and the National Botanical Garden on Maui. Hawaii Island stops include the USDA Clonal Germplasm Repository in Hilo and Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory and Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park in Kona. On Kauai, attendees will tour Kauai Coffee, plus the National Tropical Botanical and Allerton Gardens.

Ken Love, HTFG president, says the conference will have breakout sessions on propagation methods, hands-on grafting, using unusual local fruit by Chef Grant Sato, jujubes and other exotics, plus fruits of Florida and Ecuador.

The conference is open to the public. Registration forms and fee schedule are available at here or by contacting Love at kenlove@hawaiiantel.net or Mark Suiso at suiso@aloha.net.

Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers

Incorporated in 1989 to promote tropical fruit grown in Hawaii, HTFG is a statewide association of tropical fruit growers, packers, distributors and hobbyists dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing and promotion; www.hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org.