Fruits Info

Hawaii growers of tropical specialty fruit now are producing a record 1.5 million pounds of fresh fruit a year, according to latest figures from agriculture officials.

That figure, issued Friday by the National Agricultural Statistics Service Hawaii Field Office, covers 2005 and is up 41 percent from 2004.

Higher yields from growing orchards played a role in the dramatic increase, but harvested land also rose 14 percent, suggesting that the record volume is not a jinx but represents a genuine jump in Hawaii's tropical specialty fruit production.

Sales volumes, measured at the planter selling level, also hit a record in 2005, $2.7 million, up 40 percent from 2004.