Far-west fruit growers plan 2013 statewide meeting

Coordinators have scheduled the 23rd annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference for Sept. 27-29, 2013, starting at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus. Titled “Best of Both Worlds,” the week-long gathering is in partnership with the California Rare Fruit Growers Fall Festival of Fruit. The conference is expected to attract more than 100 visitors from the Golden State.

Presented by the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers and California Rare Fruit Growers, the event is geared to farmers, educators, orchard managers and proponents of sustainable agriculture.

Since 2011, the confab includes stops on all four Hawaiian Islands to reach out to more growers and take tours of existing agricultural operations.

Planned tours on Oahu are Frankie’s Nursery, the Urban Garden Center, Lyon Arboretum and Foster Botanical Garden. The event moves to Maui on Monday, Sept. 30, and continues to Hilo, Kona and Kauai Oct. 1-3, with tours set at Maui Pineapple Co. and Kauai’s National Tropical Botanical and Allerton Gardens.

Ken Love, HTFG president, says the conference will have breakout sessions on specific crops, while delving into a wide range of topics such as value-added product development, food preservation and safety, fruit nutrition and marketing.

The conference is open to the public. Registration forms and fee schedule will be available in April at www.htfg.org or by contacting Love at kenlove@hawaiiantel.net or Mark Suiso at suiso@aloha.net.