Ag Land To Sprout Kunia Research Lab
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Del.icio.usBy early summer, the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center should be up and running in a new building on former sugar cane land across from Kunia Shopping Center.
“The goal is to improve scientific efficiency,” explained Stephanie Whalen, president and research director of the private, nonprofit HARC, which currently operates between its Kunia experiment station and an office/laboratory in Aiea Heights.
“The field and lab used to be on the same site. Now we’ll be able to put it all together again,” Whalen said, noting they hope to open the 20,000-square-foot steel building by June 1. The center will house a staff of 25 and be surrounded by crops they will cultivate for research and for incubating new agribusinesses.
HARC, formerly known as the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association, purchased some 119 acres of ag land in Kunia from Campbell Estate for about $4 million in 2006. It is known for its technical and consulting services to local farmers as well as technical and consulting services to local farmers as well as high-quality research in crop management, forestry and environmental services, especially bioenergy.
Whalen, who began her career as a HSPA chemist, said the new quarters also are designed for students and the public to observe its programs without going into the labs.
“In the future, we want to educate the school and community so they understand that agriculture is not old or static. We also will have a grand opening at some point.”
Steeltech Inc. of Aiea is contractor for the Kunia project, which recently got a roof. The construction is visible from Kunia Road.
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