The University of Hawai'i announced yesterday that it will give three patents for genetically enhanced, crossbred taro plants to Native Hawaiians.

Discussions were under way within the Hawaiian community to determine the appropriate entity to receive the patents, UH officials said.

Hawaiian activists, farmers and students have held protests demanding that the university give up the patents and stop genetically altering taro, which many Hawaiians consider a sacred plant.

"The University of Hawai'i has a strong desire to maintain appropriate respect and sensitivity to the indigenous Hawaiian host culture," said Gary K. Ostrander, UH-Manoa vice chancellor for research.

"Taro is unique to the Hawaiian people in that it represents the embodiment of their sacred ancestor. As such, it is appropriate to make an exception to our standard policy of holding all patents."

According to Hawaiian legend, the cosmic first couple gave birth to a stillborn, Haloa, from whose gnarled body sprang the broad-leafed plant whose bulb-like underground corms are cooked and pounded into one of Hawai'i's best-known foods, poi.

The Hawaiian people, it is believed, came from a second brother, making the plant part of their common ancestry.

The patents arose from work conducted by a UH faculty member in the 1990s to help Samoan taro growers whose crops were hard hit by a leaf blight.

Plants from Hawai'i and Palau were crossbred, producing three strains that were shown to have increased disease resistance. The patents were granted in 2002.

Farmers using the patented taro varieties are required to pay licensing fees to the university, if they are running a business, according to Cy Hu, associate dean of UH's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

About a dozen growers have signed an agreement to use the disease-resistant taro, but the university hasn't collected any money from it yet because the first three years of the contract are free.