Ching, Chauncey T.K.

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WELCOMING ADDRESS:TAKING TARO INTO THE 19905: A TARO CONFERENCEChauncey T. K. ChingDirector of HITAHRUniversity of Hawaii at ManoaRecognition of Organizers and SupportersThese kinds of workshops or conferences do not just happen. Many individuals worked very hard sothat this conference is in fact occurring. In particular, I wish to recognize a number of people such as DwightSato who initially conceived of this gathering and Jim Hollyer who worked very closely with Dwight increating this conference. Of course, all of this would not have occurred without the blessing and support ofthe county administrator--Dr. Mike Nagao. There are also many faculty from our college and the U. H.Hilo College of Agriculture who are on the program along with members from the private sector. You willhear from these individuals as the day progresses. I also acknowledge the interest and support offered bythe Governor's Agriculture Coordinating Committee both Mr. Takamine and Mr. DoL Lastly, I recognize myadministrative colleague, Dr. Kenneth Rohrbach, who has been understanding and supportive of theinterests in taro.I thank the Hawaii Dryland Taro Association for co-sponsoring this conference. And, I gratefullyacknowledge Congressman Akaka and Senator Inouye for their support of the Agricultural Diversificationproject that provides the financial resources for this conference.College PerspectiveYou might be asking what is the college's role in supporting a conference of this type. I point out toyou that a general goal of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) is to supportdiversified agriculture. And, we believe we will have been successful in meeting this goal if we eithercreate some new agricultural industries or expand some existing ones. Of course, this implies that theseindustries or expansions are profitable.We pursue this goal subject to a number of constraints. The most prominent of which is that we mustmaintain the quality of our environment. Another important constraint is that must be consistent with thestate's policies and goals--in other words, reflect the desires of our communities and the individuals whoreside in them.The mechanism that we pursue in supporting diversified agriculture in this sense is to createsituations where each person/agency can do what they do best. In other words, we believe that we musthave very strong linkages between the various public sector agencies, including CTAHR, and the privatesector (producers, marketers, and consumers). In addition, we feel that we must be looking at concepts suchas added value, linkages to tourism, and developing as many end products as possible from a particularagricultural commodity. It is within this overall context of a mechanism that we pursue our support ofdiversified agriculture. .Taro as a Flagship CroplProductJIndustryWhile I like the products that come from taro ranging from the traditional poi to the lesstraditional taro chip and other manufactured products, we should not forget that taro is clearly culturallyimportant to Hawaii. Also, I see some very clear linkages, some of which are potentially strong, to linktaro production/marketing/consumption to our tourist industry.J think, also, that taro has much potential in terms of processed and fresh products. We are limitedonly by our imagination and creativity. Finally, I think that taro can and is consistent with maintaining afragile ecosystem within the state of Hawaii.Given the above, J believe that taro is, in fact, an industry with considerable expansion potential.And, the way in which we attempt to do so could serve as a very important model to follow as we try toexpand and/or create new agricultural industries in Hawaii.CommibnentI believe that we can only be successful if we make a commitment that we are in this venture(adventure?) together. I believe that it is extremely important that we take the view it's US (all of us inHawaii) against the world not US against each other. As conflicts arise, and I'm sure they will, I believethat it is extremely ~mportant that we keep this idea in front of us and in sharp focus.1With this focus, it is clear that we must maintain a high quality of product if we are to compete inmainland or international markets. We must work very closely with our shippers and distributors. Wemust establish our marketing contacts now and maintain them. We must recognize that while we do have ahigh quality product, we also have some very stiff competition from places like the Dominican Republicand Florida. We must realize that in order to be competitive, we must look at the most efficient ways ofshipping, packaging, providing corms in sizes desired by marketers, and provide promotional materialssuch as brochures, labels, recipes. We must also recognize that in order to be successful as an industry, weneed to promote the industry and this will likely involve an assessment of producers in order to supportmarketing activities.While I believe that those of us in the college can play an important coordinative role, we mustclearly make a commitment that together we are expanding the taro industry in Hawaii. We all need totake ownership of what we are doing and to support the total effort even if some of our personal short-termgains may have to be sacrificed. For example, we are producing a marketing handbook and productionhandbook. We need two things from the industry in order to complete these products. First, we needresponse from the industry to these surveys. Secondly, we need your financial support to print thesehandbooks. Again, it's not so much requiring your financial support to print it, but rather for you to takeownership of it. 1believe that ownership is best accomplished when a commitment is made. Therefore, wewill be asking you to take ownership either by helping pay the printing bill for these handbooks and/or toprovide some mechanism for recapturing some of the costs of printing.ConclusionIn conclusion, I note that you will receive a lot of information today. This information, however,will not be useful in expanding the taro industry in Hawaii unless all of us make the commitment that weare in this venture together. If we take steps to create this feeling on being on the same team, the conferencewill have been successful.Thank you and best wishes for a successful conference.2The Library of Congress has catalogued this serial publicationas follo\vs:85-645281AACR2 MARC-S[8506]Research Extension series I Hawaii Inslitute ofTropical Agri-culture·and Human Resources.-001- [Honolulu, Hawaii]:The Institute, [1980-v.:il!. ;22 cmIrregular.Title from cover.Separately catalogued and classified in LCbefore andincluding No. 044.ISSN 0271-9916= Research Extension Series- HawaiiInstitute of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.l~Agriculture---Hawaii--Collecledworks. 2. Agricul-ture-Research-Hawaii-Collected works. 1. HawaiiInstitute ofTropical Agriculture and Human Resources.II. Title: Research Extension Series - Hawaii Institute ofTropical Agriculture and Human Resources.S52.5R47 630'.5--dc19Library of Congress

Welcoming Address: Taking Taro into the 1990s: A Taro Conference

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Welcoming Address: Taking Taro into the 1990s: A Taro Conference

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