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The venture is planning to maintain agricultural uses for the land. Maui Pono plans to cultivate crops including coffee, fruits and vegetables to sell locally and export, the venture said.

“With our purchase of this fertile land, we want to help ensure that Maui’s residents can produce agricultural products for future generations,” Mahi Pono President Ann Chin said in a statement. “We want to expand Maui’s thriving and diversified agriculture industry.”

Alexander & Baldwin grew sugarcane on Maui for about 150 years. When it halted sugar operations in 2016, the company tried to find a partner to diversify the agricultural uses of the land, said Chris Benjamin, the company’s president and CEO.

“We acknowledged that this transition would take time, but could support the important goals of food and energy self-sufficiency for Hawaii, preserve productive agricultural lands, and stimulate new economic activity on Maui and in the state,” Benjamin said in a statement.