AGRICULTURE: New Start for Sugar

Hawaiian sugar growers have long been in an uncomfortably tight box. Their per-acre yields make them the most efficient producers in the world, but their high labor costs and long sea haul to market restrict them to selling in the high-priced, protected U.S. market. There, growth possibilities are virtually nil owing to 1) the public's fondness for dieting, 2) Government quotas on sales by foreign and domestic sugar producers.

Even though Congress threatens to slash Cuba's sugar quota in reprisal for Fidel Castro's seizure of U.S. property, Hawaii is in no position to step up its production to benefit. So,...

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