Honolulu.– Representatives from across the United States, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Philippines, Europe and Australia had the opportunity to get a glimpse into Hawaii's sugar production during the recent 25th International Sugar Symposium.

The symposium, conducted in Big Island, Hawaii, was sponsored by the American Sugar Alliance. Hawaii is the only place in the United States that is still harvesting sugarcane during the month of August.

Symposium attendees saw the island's harvest firsthand. Hawaii is the ultimate tourist destination, but agriculture has long been the economic driver of many small communities on the island. The beautiful state has some of the most fertile soil used produce sugar cane, and it was once a dominant force in the industry.

By the mid-1990s, more than 70 percent of the state's sugar industry had vanished. But the sugar industry remains important to the islands, said Alan Kennett with Gay and Robinson, Inc., a sugar company in Hawaii. “Not only are we a top employer in the state, but we could become even more important as the industry looks to get into the energy business,” he said.

Sucrose ethanol was one of the chief topics discussed at this year's symposium. Hawaii's Congressman Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, was leading speaker on energy issue.