SCR 1035 Summary

• Concurrent resolution recognizing the contributions of Japanese-American farmers to Arizona's agricultural development.

• Japanese-Americans, primarily Issei and Nisei immigrants, established approximately 120 farms in the Salt River Valley by the 1930s, introducing new crops and growing techniques that became standard agricultural practices in Arizona.

• Japanese farmers pioneered cultivation of vegetables including lettuce, cantaloupe, strawberries, carrots, tomatoes, and sweet corn, transforming Arizona agriculture beyond the traditional grain and alfalfa production.

• Japanese communities in the Salt River Valley (Mesa, South Mountain, and Alhambra-Glendale areas) developed flower farming operations, shipping 250 boxes of flowers daily nationwide by the 1950s and becoming a prominent Phoenix-area attraction.

• Legislature acknowledges the significant economic and cultural contributions Japanese-Americans made to Arizona's twentieth-century agricultural success.