Primary Sources from UH Mānoa Library's Hawaiʻi Congressional Papers Collection
1835: Kōloa Plantation first opens.
1875: The Reciprocity Treaty between the United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom guarantees a duty-free market for Hawaiian sugar (in other words, Hawaiian sugar would not be taxed when imported into the U.S.) and special economic privileges for the United States.
1959: Hawaiʻi becomes a state.
1970: Moloaʻa Papaya Cooperative starts to try and capitalize on an agricultural product that can be exported and grown on a larger scale.
1981-1983: High fructose corn syrup, a sweetener, begins production and causes massive disruptions in the sugar market.
1982: Hurricane ʻIwa (category 1) causes problems to diversified and papaya farmers as many of their crops and infrastructure are destroyed.
1985: Legislators work to keep U.S. Sugar program which would curtail the importation of foreign subsidized sugar.
1988: Growers on Kauaʻi point out how many crops could be shipped to the mainland from Hawaiʻi if there were not so many embargoes.
1989: Moloaʻa Papaya Cooperative is in trouble, the granter of their loan (signed in 1983) files for bankruptcy, only 9 farmers remain and there is a legal battle regarding the repayment of their loan. Yet, the farmers work hard to establish farming in Moloaʻa. Today evidence shows they were successful as it is the center of diversified farming on Kauaʻi.
1990: Sugar industry players start to reach for other products that can be made from sugar cane, such as paper.
1990: Diversified agriculture is taking hold on Kauaʻi. Farmers are upgrading infrastructure, specific crops like papaya and guava are being looked at for expansion, federal money is coming in for research, funding and infrastructure, and there is strong support from longtime and committed farmers.
1991: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations in Uruguay impact the sugar industry in Hawaiʻi. Reduction of support for the U.S. Sugar Program and decreased subsidies (much less than other sugar producing countries) leads to the reality that Hawaiʻi cannot compete for sugar production: the writing is on the wall for sugar's demise.
1992: Hurricane ʻIniki (category 4) on Kauaʻi puts farmers at a hardship, especially when some were still paying back loans from Hurricane ʻIwa in 1982. Senator Inouye assists in getting some federal funding for growers to help deal with the crops and infrastructure that were destroyed.
1992: There are discussions around immigration issues regarding the shortage of field workers in Hawaiʻi. It is recognized there are no solutions.
1992: President Bush deletes funding for important agricultural projects in Hawaiʻi including funding for exports.
1996: Kōloa Plantation closes .