Breadfruit Presentation by Dr. Ragone

On April 10th, 2010, the Hawai'i Island Landscape Association (HILA) hosted a meeting at the Kona Outdoor Circle Education Center featuring guest speaker Dr. Diane Ragone, Director of The Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) on Kaua‘i.

Dr. Ragone has worked at the National Tropical Botanical Garden since 1989, and was appointed Director of the Breadfruit Institute in 2003. She is a world authority on the propagation, conservation and use of breadfruit, conducting horticultural and ethnobotanical studies of this important Pacific staple crop for 25 years. Her extensive fieldwork on over fifty islands in Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia enabled the NTBG to establish the world's largest collection of breadfruit at its Kahanu Garden in Hana, Maui. The Breadfruit Institute was created to promote the conservation and use of breadfruit for food and reforestation and to address the problem of world hunger.

Fifty guests enjoyed a social hour, and then a delicious Hawaiian dinner featuring three breadfruit dishes that were created from recipes displayed on the Breadfruit Institute website.

After the dinner and social hour, Dr. Ragone's featured presentation highlighted her 25 years working with breadfruit throughout the Pacific. The presentation was a very educational, information-packed breadfruit odyssey of Diane's research, describing the many types and uses of breadfruit and complemented by beautiful photographs of her travels. In addition, she explained how her institute is working to address world hunger issues through the propagation and global planting of breadfruit. Most intriguing was the recent breakthrough in the economic propagation of breadfruit using laboratory methods that facilitate its wide distribution. Information about the Breadfruit Institute can be found at http://www.ntbg.org/breadfruit/index.php

Attendance at the meeting was excellent, with many community members involved in local food issues participating, as well as Green Industry attendees. Mahalo nui loa to Dr. Ragone for sharing her knowledge and aloha with our Hawai’i Island community!

Chris McCullough is the president of the Hawai'i Island Landscaping Association and was instrumental in bringing Dr. Ragone to Kailua-Kona for this timely presentation.