STAND. COM. REP. NO.2530

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2121

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2121 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR PAPAYA RESEARCH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for papaya research.

Specifically, the research would concentrate on:

(1) The selection and segregation of high performing papaya

varieties among the Laie Gold Lines, and their micro-propagation;

(2) Production of the top-twenty-five outstanding papaya

lines for field tests; and

(3) Planning and conducting field tests of the top

performing papaya lines selected at three different locations to assess performance.

Your Committee finds that papaya diseases and a shrinking market have negatively impacted the papaya industry. Also, issues such as yields, uniformity of fruits, shape, size, and cat-facing continue to be problems for papaya farmers.

This bill would provide the necessary funds to solve present, as well as future problems facing the papaya industry. The appropriation would also assist in researching and developing new varieties of papaya to help Hawaii's papaya industry maintain a competitive edge in the world market.

Your Committee has amended the bill by changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount in order to promote continuing discussion on this matter, and by making other technical nonsubstantive changes.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2121, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2121, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair