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Article: Siamese orchids: Asia is helping Hawaii's orchid industry, but has the potential to hurt it.(Industry focus: agriculture)(orchid cloning)
- Article from:
- Hawaii Business
- Article date:
- September 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Hawaii Business Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A lab in Thailand has been key to a Palolo orchid grower's success. About five years ago, Kawamoto Orchid Nursery owner Les Kawamoto found Asian clone labs gave him a competitive edge. "It's much more economical," says Kawamoto. "We're saving dollars and we're saving time."
Holding up a small orchid plant, Kawamoto explains, "If we were to send this out to be cloned here in Hawaii and we order 10,000 of this, it'll cost about a dollar, If we sent it to Thailand, it would cost about 20 cents."
According to Kawamoto, sales have been increasing gradually over the years since he turned to Asian cloning for his orchid production. "The quality became much ...