The Garden Island

HAWAII— The 28th annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference will be Sept. 20-23 at Leeward Community College in Pearl City on Oahu and continues with five gatherings on the Neighbor Islands.

Dates run consecutively Sept. 25-29 with mini-conferences moving to Kauai, Molokai, Maui and on Hawaii Island in both Kona and Hilo.

Geared to farmers, educators, orchard managers and proponents of sustainable agriculture, the multi-day conference is presented by the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers. It is open to the public.

The 2018 conference is titled “Bringing It All Together” and offers a lineup of visiting researchers and agro experts sharing information and breakout sessions on a variety of topics.

Peter Salleras will do the keynote presentation, “Growing, Packaging and Marketing Fruit in Australia — How We Can Up Our Quality in Hawaii.”

HTFG Executive Director Ken Love says the conference will provide research and legislative updates on numerous commodities from a host of Hawaii facilities and agencies, plus a talk on “Producing Clonal Rootstocks for Avocados.” Breakout sessions will focus on post-harvest technology, value-added food innovation, sustainable farming systems and select commodities like chocolate, vanilla and black pepper.

Registration forms and fee schedule are available at HTFG.org or by contacting Love at kenlove@hawaiiantel.net or Mark Suiso at suiso@aloha.net. Those registering before Aug. 1 receive a $50 discount.