08-07-2015, 06:07 AM
Frankie, like many crops, coconut production would be too costly to compete with coconuts from foreign markets. Foreign markets have access to cheaper land, labor, material resources (fertilizer / pesticides) and water.
Its a nice thought, but the reasoning is the same as why all the pineapple plantations went out of business. The remaining operations on Oahu and Maui operate merely to keep their land (a small fraction) in agricultural production so as to insure their zoning and tax rate remains agricultural. Basically they are sitting on a gold mine of prime Hawaii acreage and being taxed minimally.
Its a nice thought, but the reasoning is the same as why all the pineapple plantations went out of business. The remaining operations on Oahu and Maui operate merely to keep their land (a small fraction) in agricultural production so as to insure their zoning and tax rate remains agricultural. Basically they are sitting on a gold mine of prime Hawaii acreage and being taxed minimally.