HB2673 Relating to Taro – the bio-security bill for taro regulating the form that taro comes into the state has been referred to AGR/WLH (will be a joint committee hearing) and JUD (judicial). No date set for hearing yet.
· As an important cultural resource and food, taro deserves a high level of protection.
· Since 2010 taro imports have equaled or surpassed local production; most of it originates outside the US but arrives in Hawaiʻi through the US without us knowing the originating country.
· Improved bio-security (protections from new pests and diseases) was a stated goal for Hawaiʻi at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2016 and of the Taro Security and Purity Task Force.
· Many taro growing countries have pests and diseases not yet found in Hawaiʻi and can be transferred to our islands through live plant material. While we can’t dictate nation to nation importation agreements; we have the ability to control what comes in, and how, to Hawaiʻi from the U.S.
· Raw taro corms are considered “food” but not “seed” or “propagatable material” by agriculture inspectors and therefore are not a priority for inspection; however, raw corms can be planted, sprouted and grown out for new planting material and should be labeled “propagatable material”.
· By requiring that all taro arriving in Hawaiʻi ports is frozen, dried, cooked or peeled, it prevents the transfer of diseases and pests, and limits the level of inspection required, without restricting the flow of taro imports.
· Between 1920 and 2000, hundreds of varieties of taro have been introduced to Hawaiʻi for breeding programs; many remain in Hawaiʻi. Little to no descriptions or documentation of distribution and cross-breeding were done. Some of those taros had invasive characteristics that were bred into researcher developed hybrids. We do not need additional taro varieties introduced to Hawaiʻi that pose a potential threat for disease and pest introduction or further invasion.
· Sufficient cultivar diversity from those earlier introductions is still present in the islands to achieve desired breeding goals for local use by taro growers and researchers, if they desire. Such goals for other Pacific Islands can be achieved by collaborating and working in the Pacific rather than opening the door for potential pests and diseases to enter Hawaii by doing such research here.
· The requirement of only certified clean live plant material keeps every taro farmer and collection of Hawaiian taro varieties in Hawaiʻi safer.
Sample Testimony for cut, paste & edit action:
HB2673 Relating to Taro – the bio-security bill for taro regulating the form that taro comes into the state has been referred to AGR/WLH (will be a joint committee hearing) and JUD (judicial). No date set for hearing yet.
Kalo is well beyond the scope of a simple fix with an unknown foreign import to Hawaiʻi. Through various institutions, kalo has been determined to be a crop vulnerable many issues stemming from bio-security issues. It is a resource in many ways including as a power food - full of protein and necessary vitamins, to mention in the cosmogony of Hawaiʻi and much of Polynesia. It is widely used as a landscape of pride and beauty at many estates.
Let it hereby be known that much of Hawaiʻiʻs endemic landscape is on the endangered list, and
That kalo farmers struggle with other issues such as taxation, water diversion, industrial pollution, neighbor like the ones in West Maui - who dumped paint in the stream, which subsequently ended up in somebodyʻs kalo patch below, who present real and pertinent issues for farmers, and
That imports of taro from other places often brings new pests and diseases that can potentially destroy Hawaiʻiʻs unique bio-diversity, are transferred via live plant material, such as taro corms from unknown foreign places. Since 2010 taro imports have equaled or surpassed local production. While we can’t dictate nation to nation importation agreements; we have the ability to control what comes in, and how, to Hawaiʻi from the U.S.
Therefore, let it be resolved that by requiring that all taro arriving in Hawaiʻi ports is frozen, dried, cooked or peeled, it prevents the transfer of diseases and pests, and limits the level of inspection required, without restricting the flow of taro imports.
The requirement of only certified clean live plant material keeps every taro farmer and collection of Hawaiian taro varieties in Hawaiʻi safer.
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=2673&year=2020
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