Do they still burn sugar cane in Maui?
In Hawaiian, ko means sugar cane. This longtime practice of cane burning, which is woven into Maui’s culture and history but bemoaned by some, will come to an end in December when HC&S will close its plantation after a 145-year run.
Why do they burn sugarcane fields in Hawaii?
To harvest the cane, workers lit huge fires covering hundreds of acres, almost every morning, often between 3 am and 6 am, except Sundays and on holidays or days with bad weather conditions. Burning the tall grass made it easier to harvest the cane stalks by hand.
What happened to sugarcane on Maui?
In January 2016 the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S) announced it was shutting down their sugar cane operations by the end of 2016 This announcement was met with mixed emotions. The sugar cane on Maui happens to be (or was) the last remaining sugar cane operation in the Hawaiian Islands.
Is burning sugar cane bad for the environment?
New research in ES (pp 381–385) shows that burning cane fields also releases large amounts of nitrogen, making air pollution worse in cane- growing regions. The nitrogen is in the form of ammonia and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which react to create ozone.
Why did Hawaii stop growing sugar cane?
For over a century, the sugar industry dominated Hawaii’s economy. But that changed in recent decades as the industry struggled to keep up with the mechanization in mills on mainland U.S. That and rising labor costs have caused Hawaii’s sugar mills to shut down, shrinking the industry to this one last mill.
When did the last sugar plantation in Hawaii close?
December 2016
Hawaii’s last working sugar mill, in Puunene, Maui, produced the final shipment of sugar from Hawaii in December 2016. The mill was permanently closed soon thereafter and the last 375 employees of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company were laid off.
Why did Dole leave Hawaii?
Hawaii pineapple production declined in the 1980s as Dole and Del Monte relocated much of their acreage elsewhere in the world, primarily due to high U.S. labor and land costs. Dole closed down the entirety of its Lanai pineapple operations in 1992, while Del Monte harvested its final Hawaii crop in 2008.
When did Hawaii stop growing sugar cane?
What does burning sugar cane smell like?
The smell is hard to describe. Sugarcane is sweet (it is where sugar comes from) and the smell is grassy, musty, sweet and smoky all at once. It lingers for hours after the fires die down. Before the cane is cut, the surrounding fields are a maze of green as high as your head.
Is sugar cane still burnt before harvesting?
Sugar cane burning season is now underway across northern NSW. Sugar cane burning is carried out by farmers before they harvest the cane. Sugar cane burning season generally runs from July to November/December. Keep an eye out for these burns, which are controlled burns carried out by farmers.
Is Dole pineapple still in Hawaii?
At the Dole Plantation, about a 45-minute drive north of Honolulu, pineapple is still grown, although in much smaller quantities that during the first half of the 20th century. The emphasis these days is on tourism instead of agricultural production. Tourists, not pineapples, bring big money to Hawaii these days.
Who owns the sugar cane fields in Maui?
The last and largest plantation in the state of Hawaii, The Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, closed in December 2016. In 2018, the acreage that was formerly used to grow sugarcane (36,000 acres), was sold to Mahi Pono, LLC, an agricultural company that is planting diversified agriculture on the former cane lands.