Sunflower season raises nearly $50,000 for Waialua nonprofits, attracts 24,500 people

Displaying 20 acres of blooms on Oahu’s beautiful North Shore, Corteva Agriscience’s sunflower tours attracted 24,500 people over 10 days. Waialua High School, Waialua Elementary School and the Rotary Club of Wahiawa-Waialua raised nearly $50,000 by managing parking and selling refreshments.

The sunflowers fields were open to the public between Thursday, July 11 and Saturday, July 20. They have since been plowed to make way for a new crop of corn.

This year Waialua Parent Seed celebrated 20 years at its current location. Sunflowers are just one of the crops grown at the farm. The Waialua farm is also home to approximately 400 acres of locally grown food sold in local markets and grocery stores. Helping the North Shore farmers that grow these crops moves the state closer to its goal of doubling local food production by 2020.

In the case of sunflowers, Corteva has been growing the colorful blooms in Waialua for more than 15 years. The seeds, once harvested, are prized for their high oil content. Each sunflower produces about half a cup of cooking oil.

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