WAILUA — The only reason marigolds were part of the “Know Your Farmer” display is because the presenter’s name was Mary, said Mary Pigao, Thursday. Marigolds, a natural insecticide, were part of the local bounty Pigao purchased from the Kapa‘a
WAILUA — The only reason marigolds were part of the “Know Your Farmer” display is because the presenter’s name was Mary, said Mary Pigao, Thursday.
Marigolds, a natural insecticide, were part of the local bounty Pigao purchased from the Kapa‘a sunshine market, Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of the 15th Annual Agricultural Awareness Day, Thursday at the University of Hawai‘i Wailua Research Station. Pigao is part of the Kaua‘i County Office’s Farm Service Agency in the United States Agriculture Department.
“This is to prove a point in President Barrack Obama’s ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative,” Pigao said. “This is a USDA-wide effort to carry out President Obama’s commitment to strengthening local and regional food systems.”
The USDA exhibit presented the new feature, Pigao noting fifth-grade students needed to study the presentation portion and connect with the exhibit area, locating four different food products derived from the bounty.
About 400 fifth-grade students from schools around the island braved the Thursday morning deluges to visit about 20 different stations, where they were presented a wide variety of topics dealing with agriculture. Topics varied from a charcoal-burning automobile (bioenergy), phytochemicals, or naturally occurring chemicals in food, to aphid parasitoids.
“Most students’ only connectivity to agriculture is what they see in the produce section of the supermarket,” said Larry Feinstein, a Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau member, one of the two hosts for the Agricultural Awareness Day. “After visiting the different exhibits and presentations, hopefully, they’ll have a better idea of what agriculture is.”
Melissa McFerrin of the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau said the original concept of the event was the brainchild of Dr. Terry Sekioka, retired of the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the event’s co-host.
Sekioka was seen taking photos of the various exhibits and presentations, his smile a sign of approval of the learning taking place at the UH Wailua Research Station.
“Look, we have a Blind Hawaiian Snake,” one student from King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School squealed while holding up a clear container containing the specimen. “It was on my back and we didn’t know what it was. After we took it to one of the tents, they told us it was a Blind Hawaiian Snake.”
Another new facet this year was the presentation of contraband seized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife at the air and ocean cargo entry points in Honolulu.
The contraband included pelts and other products such as a purse made from elephant skin that comes from endangered species, said Michelle Clark of the USFW service.
McFerrin said some of the sponsors for the Agricultural Awareness Day include the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board, the County of Kaua‘i, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Syngenta Seeds and Island Truss.
The Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau, coming off a highly successful Garden Fair at the Kaua‘i Community College, will next host the annual Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau Fair in late August at the Vidinha Stadium fairgrounds.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
