LISTEN TO THE RAIN
A SPECIAL REPORT
Island vegetable and fruit farmers were hit hard by the constant rainfall
PRODUCE
A visit to the grocery store shows little evidence of shortages due to the recent rains. Produce bins seem well stocked.
Look a little closer, though.
No watermelons. Not much corn. Very few papayas. And that watercress? Probably from California, not Aiea.
Floyd Mikasa, produce director for Times Super Market, said he has had to fly in items such as local greens, Chinese cabbages, green onions and parsley that he would normally buy locally.
Farmers are still determining exactly what they lost to the rains and how long it will take them to recover, Mikasa said. For many it was not just a harvest, but also the chance to replant. "It's a constant cycle, so if you miss a period of 40 days, you're not going to have crops coming up."
He expects it will take 60 to 90 relatively dry days for the situation to return to normal.
Patrick Kirkeby, who manages produce purchases for Safeway, said he had to fly in zucchini, watercress and head cabbage but that the higher costs were not passed on to consumers.
The rain did bring about shortages that simply cannot be filled by a call to a mainland distributor, however.
"It surely has delayed Oahu's watermelon," Kirkeby said. The season, which should have begun by now, has been pushed back at least a month.
Also in short supply: yellow corn. "In a good, sunny, warm spring, we should have beautiful corn for Easter," Kirkeby said, "but it won't be available for a little while yet. That's big lost sales not only for the farmers, but for us as well."
Tish Uyehara, marketing director for the wholesaler Armstrong Produce, said the problem will not be over any time soon.
"There is definitely a shortage, as well as quality issues with local produce ... all kinds, everything," she said. "There are going to be fairly large gaps of production as well; it's not just the crop that's in the ground. The effects will be felt for months to come."
Star-Bulletin staff writer Erika Engle contributed to this report.