HONOLULU (AP) – Hawaii’s last sugar plantation is getting out of the sugar-growing business. Alexander & Baldwin Inc. said Wednesday that it will phase out sugar by the end of this year. Its 36,000 acre-Maui plantation will be divided into smaller farms to grow biofuels and food crops. The land will also provide irrigated pasture to local cattle ranchers. The company says about half of the 675 people who work for its Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar subsidiary will be laid off. The layoffs will begin in March. The company plans to complete its last sugar harvest this year. Current employees will be given preference on the leases of agricultural lots. Alexander & Baldwin was founded by sugar-growing descendants of Protestant missionaries 145 years ago. Today, much of its business focuses on real estate.
