Corteva Hawai‘i propagates more than 300 new plum cuttings in Koke‘e

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Corteva Hawai‘i hopes to make this an annual project as the plums are nutritious and have been part of Kokeeʻs rich history and culture for a century.

Since Nov. 2019, Corteva Hawai‘i’s Research Center has been propagating Koke‘e plum trees with Hui o Laka to restore the valuable community resource. In May 2022, the Corteva Hawai‘i team on Kaua‘i planted more than 100 of these saplings into the ground at Koke‘e State Park. In early 2022, the team propagated 320 new plum cuttings and in June 2023, the team propogated 318 more new plum cuttings!

In 2023, the team aims to plant about 150 of last year’s cuttings at Koke‘e State Park. Corteva Hawai‘i hopes to make this an annual project as these plums are not only nutritious, they are not invasive and have been part of Kokeeʻs rich history and culture for a century.

The unique plum variety called “Menthley” comes from South Africa and requires very little cool seasonal weather to flower and self-pollinate, which works well for the unique growing area in Hawai‘i. The trees represent a valued community resource for local families who gather plums in the fall for both eating out of hand and making a pickled delicacy called umeboshi. The trees had been declining for years, so the propagation of more plants is critical to maintain this resource.

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