Dole Food Co. has completed its sale of 2,140 acres of farmland on O'ahu's North Shore to seed company Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. for $39.3 million.

Dole disclosed the pending sale in March, but at the time declined to identify the buyer.

Pioneer, which previously leased the Waialua property and used quite a bit of it for corn seed production and evaluation of sunflower varieties for potential seed production, said it will keep the land in agriculture.

"Pioneer's acquisition of North Shore agricultural land demonstrates our commitment to keeping the country country," said Cindy Goldstein, business and community outreach manager at Pioneer, an Iowa-based affiliate of DuPont. "Pioneer's land preserves and protects the natural resources, rural lifestyle and agricultural character of the area."

Dole, the world's largest producer of fresh fruit and vegetables, said the sale was one of three real estate transactions completed in the past three weeks that together generated about $100 million in cash for the California-based company to pay down debt.

The two other sales were the Miami headquarters building of Dole's fresh flower division and about 4,300 acres of California orchards majority-owned by Dole.

The sales are part of an effort by Dole, which has reported net losses in the past two years totaling $148 million, to dispose of nonstrategic or underperforming assets around the world in part to help pay off what Bloomberg News calculated to be $350 million in bonds maturing next year. So far this year, Dole has raised $135 million by selling assets.

Among land still targeted for sale by Dole are 5,000 acres in Wahiawa being marketed by broker CB Richard Ellis Inc., though to date no buyer or buyers have committed to buy that property, which is primarily zoned for agriculture and is in part fallow and in part leased to farmers growing crops or raising cattle.

If Dole completes a sale of the Wahiawa land, the company still would be one of the largest private owners of land in Hawai'i, with about 21,000 acres on O'ahu.

According to the most recent information, from the 2006 state Data Book, Dole was the seventh-largest private Hawai'i landowner with 28,472 acres.

Dole also will still be the second-largest pineapple producer in the state. The company grows pineapples on 2,700 acres, and farms coffee and cacao on another 195 acres.

Marty Ordman, a spokesman for the company owned by billionaire David Murdock, said Dole intends to continue its agricultural operations in Hawai'i.

Dole is the last major pineapple grower on O'ahu. But the company has cut back local agricultural operations. As recently as 2001, it reported farming 8,000 acres on O'ahu in pineapple as well as papaya and cacao.

While crops such as pineapple and sugar cane that have been a part of Hawai'i history have declined over the past few decades, seed crops have quickly become the second most valuable farming product in Hawai'i after flowers and nursery products.

The value of seed crops — almost exclusively corn — was up 26 percent to a record $97.6 million for the 2006-07 season from the previous season, according to the most recent data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Last year, seed crop producer Monsanto Co. bought 2,300 acres in Kunia from the James Campbell Co. for $31.3 million, according to property records.

Goldstein of Pioneer said buying Hawai'i agriculture land is an opportunity to ensure the future of Pioneer's business in a market that allows year-round production of seeds. Pioneer also owns 273 acres in Kunia, and leases land on Kaua'i.