Senator Hirono gets a taste of agriculture in Wailua
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 12:05 am
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Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island
University of Hawai‘i Cooperative Extension College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Associate Dean and Associate Director Jeremy Elliott-Engel, left, is joined by Kaua‘i’s Hallie Cristobal of the 4-H program, right, in presenting U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono a 4-H certificate during Hirono’s visit to the Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Center in Wailua on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.
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Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, center, looks at specimens of growing pitcher plants during her stop at the University of Hawai‘i Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Station in Wailua on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Emilie Kirk, at left, and James Keach, right, of the research station, explain the insect-eating plants are being tried for their value as a dried element in floriculture.
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Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, center, listens to the explanations being provided by James Keach, Jeremy Elliott-Engel and Emilie Kirk on the demands by florists for newer varieties of olena, more commonly known as turmeric, during the senator’s tour of the University of Hawai‘i Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Station in Wailua on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.
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U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, second from left, studies the packet of sugar pod pea seeds presented by Jeremy Elliott-Engel, second from right, and James Keach, right, as Rollshan Mahandhar, left, looks on during Hinono’s visit to the Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Station in Wailua on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.
Dennis Fujimoto The Garden Island
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WAILUA — U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono was pleasantly surprised on Monday when she was presented with a 4-H certificate during her stop at the University of Hawai‘i Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Center during a day trip to the Garden Island.
WAILUA — U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono was pleasantly surprised on Monday when she was presented with a 4-H certificate during her stop at the University of Hawai‘i Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Center during a day trip to the Garden Island.
One of the agenda items on Hirono’s itinerary called for the presentation of the 50th anniversary Senate Resolution to Heather Abbey, the refuge project leader, of the birth of the National Wildlife Refuge 50 years ago.
The itinerary did not include having a certificate presented to her for her support of the 4-H program by Kaua‘i 4-H agent Hallie Cristobal and the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Cooperative Extension Associate Dean and Associate Director Jeremy Elliott-Engle.
The presentation was part of Hirono’s scheduled stops at the research station in Wailua, where Elliott-Engle said they needed the senator’s support of the farm bill that would provide a good cash influx to the CTAHR and other similar programs across the country.
Hirono’s communications team from both Honolulu and Washington, D.C., shook their heads as Hirono accepted a package of sugar pod pea seeds, the same ones grown as the “special vegetable” for the recent agriculture festival, as part of the ag station’s omiyage for visiting.
The whirlwind tour, portions of which were incorporated into successful community events, included a sampling of new product development, pest control and more that the agricultural station is involved in.
It was not spoken, but known that Hirono would divide the package of seeds for the team’s individual plantings.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
