A promising new agricultural enterprise. Hawaii's sugar cane and pineapple industries are contracting, and the state is searching for new crops. Bamboo is an environmentally sound replacement to help preserve Hawaii's agricultural heritage.
Bamboo research centers and plantations are sprouting up in the Hawaiian Islands, especially on Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island. Already popular for fencing, flooring and furniture, now there is growing demand for bamboo timber for houses. To read more about this trend, see Honolulu Magazine "Bamboo Boom?"

Whispering Winds Bamboo Farm (www.whisperingwindsbamboo.com) in Kipahulu, Maui, is part of a tropical hardwood reforestation project. The greenhouse, shadehouse and nursery propagate over 50 species of bamboo, including ornamental, timber and edible bamboo. Growers research which ones grow best in various ecological conditions.

The plantation has five acres, about 600 plants, interplanted with nitrogen fixing trees. Twenty acres are projected by the end of 2005. Products are nursery stock, edible shoots, ornamental bamboo and timber bamboo poles.