HTFG Gathers in Kona for 29th Conference
HTFG Gathers in Kona for 29th Conference
REGISTER BY AUGUST 1 to ENJOY DISCOUNTS
KONA, HAWAII ISLAND— The 29th Annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference is September 27-29 at the Royal Kona Resort in Kailua-Kona and continues with five gatherings on the neighbor islands. Dates run consecutively September 30-October 5 with mini-conferences on Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Maui and in 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 (HTFG) and open to the public.
The 2019 conference is titled “Growing & Marketing Exotic Brazilian Fruit in Hawaii” and offers a lineup of visiting researchers and agro experts sharing information and breakout sessions on a variety of topics. Learn about post-harvest handling to extend shelf life, market development and branding, battling little fire ants, understanding crop insurance, cherimoya cultivars, breadfruit and avocados. Tours are also planned for each island.
Headlining the conference are two Brazilian fruit experts who will share their knowledge of “Ultra” exotic Amazon rainforest fruit.
“Keynote speaker Marco Lacerda will delve into the diversity of Brazilian native fruits while Antonio Morschbacker will discuss specific cultivars of fruit with economic potential for Hawaiian growers,” notes HTFG Executive Director Ken Love. “This is the first time HTFG has featured the economic potential for Brazilian native fruits, some of which are already in Hawaii like grumichama and aracca boi.”
Lacerda, a mechanical engineer who founded one of the first online nurseries in Brazil, has authored books, articles and blogs on tropical fruits, including the 2015 “Frutas no Brasil – Nativas e Exóticas,” which can be viewed on YouTube. A chemical engineer with 24 patent applications, Morschbacker has combined his technical and fruit research backgrounds to develop green technologies including a new plastic packaging from orange residues.
Both men have extensively collected and reproduced native species from the wild. Since 2001, Lacerda and Morschbaker have collaborated to bring a list of dream fruits to cultivation, including Campomanesia hirsute, Giant Guabiroba; Myrciaria guaquiea, Guaquica;Myrciaria glomerate, Scarlet Cabelluda; and Annona acutiflora, Peppery Annona.
The conference is made possible with the support of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii County Department of Research and Development.
Register before August 1 and enjoy a variety of conference fee discounts. Registration forms and fee schedule are available at www.HTFG.org or by contacting Love at kenlove@hawaiiantel.net or Mark Suiso at suiso@aloha.net. Attendees can also enjoy a special room rate at the Royal Kona Resort.
Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers
Marking its 30th year, HTFG was incorporated in 1989 to promote tropical fruit grown in Hawaii. It is a statewide association of tropical fruit growers, packers, distributors and hobbyists dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing and promotion; www.HTFG.org.
