Hawaii’s worst flooding in 20 years leaves farmers struggling and fewer veggies at the market

WAIALUA, Hawaii (AP) — The reddish-brown mud covering Bok Kongphan’s Hawaiian farm has hardened in the tropical sun. Irrigation pipes lie in confusion where lemongrass, cucumbers and okra once flourished.

His niece Jeni Balanay also lost her crops; mustard green, bitter melon and tomato called choy sum. The leaves of the banana, coconut and mango he recently planted have turned yellow, the trees are unlikely to survive.

Across the North Shore of Oahu, a famous area big wave surfingSmall farms that meet the island’s food needs are experiencing difficulties after back-to-back storms negatively affected the state in March. Worst flood in the last two decades. Authorities are imploring farmers not to give up and stressing that local agriculture is vital to the isolated archipelago.

“In some cases, entire farms have been destroyed,” said Brian Miyamoto, executive director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. “These are farmers who are only a few days or weeks away from harvest, and now they have to start over.”

More than 600 of Hawaii’s 6,500 farms are farmed, according to data collected by farm advocates. reported Approximately $40 million in damage was caused, including crops, animals and machinery. But Miyamoto said the farm bureau estimates the full extent of the devastation to be much broader: $50 million across close to 2,000 farms.

a particular type of agriculture

During the late 19th century and much of the 20th century, plantation style farming Companies like Dole and conglomerates founded by missionary descendants dominated Hawaii as they cultivated vast plantations of sugar cane or pineapple for export. Many immigrants, especially from Asia and Portugal, came to the operations.

But this large-scale monoculture waned in the 1990s amid international competition, and authorities began encouraging smaller farms, some just a few acres like Kongphan’s, with a broader range of produce that could be sold to local grocery stores or farmers’ markets.

Worldwide shipping disruptions The importance of having a local food supply has been reinforced in Hawaii during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state has offered additional support to farms in recent years. This includes money for infrastructure, farm-to-school programs, and loans from banks to those who are denied loans.

But they still face challenges. Unlike their mainland counterparts, Hawaiian farms are often too small and diverse to afford or qualify for crop insurance.

Many of the farmers are immigrants who were barely making ends meet even before the storms, Miyamoto said.

Most farms in Hawaii reportedly have annual sales of less than $10,000. US Department of Agriculture. High winds and power outages, as well as flooding, caused the death or stress of livestock and the destruction of equipment, vehicles and infrastructure.

Farmers are in despair

Kongphan, a Thai immigrant without insurance, is trying to get help from the government and figure out how to level the land carried by floodwaters. His nephew is helping him and other Thai farmers in this process. Available assistance includes federal disaster assistance, a one-time emergency grant of $1,500, and long-term loans from the state. charity fund This raised nearly $850,000 in the weeks after the flood. Many farmers also online fundraising pages.

In an interview interpreted by Balanay, Kongphan called the floods “very devastating” but said he would continue to work the 5 acres (2 ha) of land he had rented for five years, growing vegetables that he sold at farmers markets, swap meets and at shops and stalls in Honolulu’s Chinatown.

Kongphan pointed to a faint, thigh-high line on a plywood wall that showed where the water had reached inside his home, which he built from a shipping container. There’s now a donated tent inside, but he usually sleeps outside.

Flies were swarming as he carried the earth-covered generator he hoped to save. A Toyota Yaris sat nearby, covered in the same dried mud inside and out.

Balanay, who learned farming from his mother after his family immigrated to Hawaii, is not sure he wants to continue this business. He remembered that the flood rose up to his waist in seconds and destroyed his crops in the middle of the night.

“Will it happen again?” he asked. “When you look at the land and see everything destroyed, you want to give up.”

Flooding is the latest crisis for farmers in Hawaii, along with wildfires, insects and pests. volcanic tephra – Sharon Hurd, the state’s top agriculture official, said there was ash and debris from the volcano that erupted on the Big Island.

“These are the farms we really need to start over,” Hurd said. “We can’t let them give up.”

Authorities are conducting tests to reassure farmers that their soil is safe and provide them with seeds and plant starts, officials said.

Less frequent offerings at farmers markets

Some farmers were unable to access farmers markets, an important source of their income. Many have less to offer, Miyamoto said.

Farmer Kula Uliʻi said his family brings in about a quarter of its usual production. Instead of 200 pounds (90.7 kilograms) of tomatoes, 60 pounds (27.2 kilograms) may be sold at weekend farmers’ markets.

He said they lost the starts that were supposed to be planted this month and face months of limited harvest. He’s unsure of the status of his farm’s contracts with grocers, given his inability to keep up with demand.

Even hydroponics were lost after being submerged in pollutants carried by floods, he said.

“They’re all gone,” Uliʻi said. “We can’t use any of them.”

___

Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.