West Maui
The farms of West Maui, particularly near Lahaina, were once showcases
of
Hawaiian agricultural ingenuity. The earliest Western visitors
marveled at
the variety of food plants and the intricacy of the system that
brought
mountain water to and through the planted gardens and loOi (taro
patches).
Later, West Maui farming supplied the bulk of the pork and vegetables
used
to reprovision whaling ships.
As whaling declined, sugar took over. Soon, much
of West Maui was planted in
sugar and, later, in pineapples, while many farmers continued
to grow
breadfruit, papaya and vegetables. In the early Twentieth Century,
the
island¹s first agricultural fairs were here, and agriculture
held its own in
the area, even while much of the land disappeared into planned
resorts.
Coffee was a successful crop that ceased to be harvested here
in the 1990s
and the era of sugar ended for the Westside with Pioneer Mill¹s
last crop in
1999.
Today there are many small farms producing ornamental
plants, specialized
vegetable crops, noni and some tropical fruit. Also, pineapples,
while in
decline, are still grown on the Kapalua end of West Maui. Several
of the
residential developments here are intended to be farm-estates
where
agriculture will continue to be practiced.
The future of agriculture here relies on creativity winning out
over
sky-rocketing land values in this once heavily farmed area. There
are plans
to revitalize the coffee industry here, to bring the world-famous
Kaanapali
Mocha back to the world market.
On the Maalaea side of the West Maui Mountains, many small and
experimental
farms are working or in development. Around the southerly pali
(cliff), in
Olowalu, the number of farmers and nurseries is growing. And,
even in the
absence of cane fields to rumble past, the area¹s old Sugar
Cane Train
(Lahaina to Kaanapali) is still a kind of ag tour in itself.
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