{"id":237953,"date":"2026-07-26T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=237953"},"modified":"2026-07-27T11:39:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T21:39:01","slug":"hawaii-grow-rice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/26\/hawaii-grow-rice\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Â鶹´«Ã½ grow rice again? Yes, and faster than in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> imports 100% of its rice, totaling 140 million pounds a year; local production can play a major role in the state\u2019s food security<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last fall, University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span> researchers asked the question: Can Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> grow rice again?<\/a> Now, a new study published in Frontiers in Agronomy<\/em><\/a> has given a data-driven answer: Yes, and the quality might be higher than expected.<\/p>\n

\"rice<\/p>\n

The report is the work of scientists from the UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>) and the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. They found that high-quality Japanese rice types can thrive in fields with traditional irrigation systems, instead of traditional flooded paddies.<\/p>\n

The collaboration evaluated two of Japan’s premier short-grain varieties, Koshihikari and Hitomebore, during the 2025 summer season.<\/p>\n

The team tested upland cultivation in fields in Kapaʻa,<\/span> Kauaʻi,<\/span> owned by farmer Jerry Ornellas, a former CTAHR<\/abbr> field technician. Yields in Kapaʻa<\/span> reached 3.79 to 4.01 tons per hectare, comparable to many fields in Tokyo. Surprisingly, while the crops in Japan required 134 days to mature, Â鶹´«Ã½\u2019s<\/span> crops were harvested in 97 days. Shorter tropical daylengths accelerated their growth.<\/p>\n

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Rice was grown in fields in Kapaʻa,<\/span> Kauaʻi,<\/span> owned by farmer Jerry Ornellas, a former CTAHR<\/abbr> research technician<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“This was an excellent start to the collaborative research to explore the potential of bringing back rice farming to Â鶹´«Ã½,”<\/span> said Professor Tomoaki Miura of CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management.<\/p>\n

Â鶹´«Ã½\u2019s<\/span> stable temperatures and abundant sunshine generated heavier grains, yielding an outstanding grain-filling rate of up to 93.9%. The island-grown rice also achieved a superior whole-grain ratio and a lower protein content, a trait highly prized for creating a softer, stickier eating texture.<\/p>\n

Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> imports 100% of its rice, totaling 140 million pounds a year. Because residents consume three times the national average, establishing local production can play a major role in the state\u2019s food security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the crops in Japan required 134 days to mature, Â鶹´«Ã½\u2019s<\/span> crops were harvested in 97 days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":237970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[222,212,951,1363,1314,544,158,73,9],"class_list":["post-237953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-agriculture","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-food","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-natural-resources-and-environmental-management","tag-publication","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t