Hawaii Agriculture Research Center

Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (HARC), a non-profit agricultural research organization based in Waipahu, Hawaii, serves as a specialized provider of agricultural research, crop development, and native ecosystem restoration services to the federal government. Operating since its registration in 2006, HARC leverages its expertise in tropical crop genetics, sustainable agriculture, and forest health protection to support federal objectives across multiple agencies. The organization's work encompasses both direct service delivery through federal contracts and research advancement through competitive grant funding, positioning it as a key agricultural research partner for the federal government in Hawaii and beyond.

HARC's federal contracting activity demonstrates its capacity to deliver tangible agricultural products and ecosystem restoration services. In September 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 8, awarded HARC a $156,291.62 firm fixed-price purchase order to supply approximately 25,200 native Hawaiian tree seedlings over a four-year period through January 1, 2029, supporting burned area rehabilitation and reforestation at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge in Kahuku. The contract specifies production and delivery of approximately 22,000 Fusarium-resistant koa seedlings, 1,600 ohia seedlings, and 1,600 iliahi seedlings grown from Koolau mountain seed sources, to be delivered monthly in a base year of 6,000 seedlings followed by three option years with varying delivery quantities. Although the solicitation was originally designated as a total small business set-aside under NAICS code 111421 (Nursery and Tree Production), the final award was issued without a set-aside designation, reflecting HARC's competitive positioning and unique technical capabilities in native Hawaiian seedling production.

HARC's federal grant portfolio reflects substantial investment in agricultural research addressing crop disease resistance, forest health, and genetic crop improvement, funded primarily through the USDA Forest Service and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Currently active or recently completed grants include a $1,368,636 project grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Specialty Crop Research Initiative to develop Coffee Leaf Rust-resistant coffee cultivars while maintaining quality traits, running from September 2022 through August 2026; two Forest Service grants totaling $725,600 focused on Acacia Koa disease resistance and forest restoration for landscape-level resilience through June 2026; and a completed $1.37 million research initiative on transgene-free gene-editing platforms for tropical crops such as sugarcane and papaya using CRISPR-Cas technology. Additional grant support includes Forest Service funding for the Koa Orchard Protection Through Aerial Spray project and a cooperative agreement with the USDA for cacao performance trials in Hawaii. HARC also serves as a sub-grantee under a climate-smart commodities initiative led by prime grantee Lynker Corporation, where HARC provides agronomist and technical support for implementing climate-smart agricultural practices across multiple land use categories, demonstrating its role in broader federal agricultural sustainability initiatives.