Board of Agriculture approves two Hamakua subleases and assignment of Waimanalo lease

The State of Hawaii Board of Agriculture on March — approved three land-lease actions that staff said will allow two local growers to expand operations at Hamakua Agricultural Park and transfer a Waimanalo lease to a newly formed farm company.

Brandy Ayole, property manager with the Agricultural Resource Management Division, told the board the first request was for Marites Lebed to sublease Lot 1 under General Lease 07-2013 at Hamakua Agricultural Park. Staff said the lot is about 10 acres, currently vacant and overgrown, and that Lebed already subleases Lot 28 under a different general lease and grows a variety of vegetables. Staff recommended approval through the lease expiration date of June 29, 2033. Member Diane moved the motion; there were no objections and the board approved the sublease by voice vote.

The board also approved a request by Jiangyu Wang to sublease Lot 3, approximately 9.73 acres, under General Lease 07-2013. Ayole said Wang currently subleases multiple lots elsewhere and intends to use Lot 3 to expand production, including planting a banana variety described in the staff report as Brazilian apple bananas. Member…