Syngenta moving seed research facility to Kauai, Hawaii

Syngenta will move its Hawaii research operations from Oahu to Kauai in June, a company official said Monday.

Most of the 57 workers at the Kunia Research Station will be offered jobs on Kauai, said Syngenta spokesman Paul Minehart. The company expects there will be a net loss of 20 to 25 jobs depending on how many workers decide to relocate to the new facility in Kekaha when the move is made June 30, he said.

Syngenta's other operations on Oahu will not be affected, Minehart said. Syngenta farms corn and soybeans on about 4,000 acres on Oahu and Kauai.

"It is with deep regret that the company takes this action and we hope to accomplish the closing with the least possible disruption to the lives of our employees and the community," Mike Austin, Syngenta's Kunia Station manager, said in a notice filed April 26 with the state Department of Labor and Industrial relations.

Syngenta, based in Switzerland, is one of five companies that grow seed crops in Hawaii. A recent study commissioned by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation estimated that the value of Hawaii's seed crop industry rose 1.5 percent last season to a record $243 million from $239 million the season before.

Last season's gain was the second year of near-flat growth after what had been annual increases of roughly between 20 percent and 40 percent for most of the prior decade.

Even with overall industry spending staying positive, the number of jobs has decreased. The report said 1,397 people were employed in the industry, down from 1,863 counted in the 2009 report.

Seed growers in Hawaii generally study plant genes and properties, breed plants with desired genes both traditionally and using genetic engineering, test the resulting plants and then grow large quantities of favorable plants to produce parent seed. The parent seed is sent to the mainland for mass reproduction and sale to farmers worldwide.