The State of Hawai'i Land Use Commission (LUC) unanimously approved Maha'ulepu Farm LLC's Important Agricultural Land (IAL) application thereby dedicating 1,533 acres on the South Shore of Kaua'i for agricultural use.

The land was originally owned by Grove Farm Company and Visionary LLC, dba as Lihu'e Land Company, and was then transferred to Maha'ulepu Farm.  The IAL designated lands will be kept in agricultural use for the foreseeable future and the majority of the lands are located in the Maha'ulepu Valley area.  The majority of the designated agriculatural acreage fulfills the IAL soil quality criteria and these lands are adjacent to the existing Waita reservoir and its vast water resources.

According to Warren Haruki, President & CEO of Maha'ulepu Farm, "we are pleased that the LUC has approved the dedication of such a significant amount of our lands for agriculture.  It is our continued hope that more of the fruits, vegetables and other ag products that Kaua'i uses can be grown on the island for a more sustainable future.  This is a small step toward the future objective of 'Eat Local' -- growing what we eat on Kaua'i."

The Maha'ulepu lands designated as IAL are currently in use for taro, fruit trees, small crops, seed cultivation and ranching.  In fact, the W. T. Haraguchi family has already chosen to use some of these lands to dramatically increase their taro production.

Maha'ulepu Farm's voluntary IAL application was only the third entity throughout the State to have sought such a designation and to have received approval.