Her husband Laureto died last month, not knowing who did this and why.

"It's just really sad, because it takes a lot of risk and a lot of labor to be a farmer, and we don't have any solutions," said Hawaii County's DayDay Hopkins, who works closely with farmers.

Hopkins said the few leads investigators had over damage done to the crop, which other industries rely on, have since fallen through.

"You can't find any other crop that can grow that quick and provide you with that volume," said Hopkins.

She said the fast-growing, high-volume papayas are needed to fill up cargo containers.

Without it, she said, it wouldn't be worth the fuel for shippers to come to Hawaii or cheap enough for companies to pay for it.

But with it, lighter, valuable loads, such as flowers, can go too.

"It has a strategic importance to the development of agriculture on this island," said Hopkins.

"We're getting close to July and everybody is panicking," said Bernardo.

But what's on the minds of Big Island farmers is what's left in their fields.