Hawaii's Agricultural History

Agriculture has been an important part of life in Hawaii since the earliest Polynesian voyagers arrived from the Marquesas Islands with 30 “canoe plants,” including kalo (taro), breadfruit, sweet potato, yams, sugarcane, coconut and bananas. They also came with pigs and chickens. Before long, fields of kalo and sweet potatoes were widespread. During the 19th and 20th centuries, agriculture became big business in the Islands—sugar, pineapple, coffee, beef, dairy, and more recently, aquaculture, artisan vegetables and exotic fruit.

The Big Island has always been a large contributor to Hawaii’s breadbasket, and that is truer today than ever. The bulk of the state’s agricultural products are grown and processed in Hawaii County. The diversification of agriculture is on the rise, partly thanks to the popularity of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, which uses Hawaii’s freshest ingredients in its creative, beautifully presented dishes.

Hawaii Island is an agricultural cornucopia growing a dazzling variety of products including macadamia nuts, coffee, orchids and other tropical plants, papaya, mango, cacao, jackfruit, vanilla, ginger root, kava, goat cheese, honey, hearts of palm, and exotic fruits like durian, rambutan, star fruit, cheremoya, figs, lychee, and dragon fruit. Farmers grow all of the above and a lot more. Not to mention ranchers raising sheep and cattle, and aquaculturists with tanks full of lobsters, pearls and micro-algae. Meanwhile, foresters are cultivating eucalyptus to be exported as wood pulp for paper-making, and woodworkers are making fine furniture and art objects from locally grown woods.

Now visitors may not only taste this Big Island bounty at island restaurants, stores and farmers markets, they may also visit the farms, ranches and orchards—not to mention the nurseries growing our beautiful (but non-edible) exotic flowers. Hawaii’s Big Island also has festivals through the year such as the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival and The Taste of the Range, that celebrate our rural and agricultural lifestyle.