New Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry

Potential Contributions

Evaluators (target audience of this project) reported in the project survey: "All the information provided has reinforced my commitment to agroforestry, sustainable agriculture, and value-added processing." "These tools are INVALUABLE to resource managers and the general public. If you look back over the years since the inception of this work you have initiated to see the changes in the awareness and quality of information and interactions...Introspection is important as is the review of history to see how funding, collaboration and demand have steered this work.... This work is a GLOBAL RESOURCE. It has given important foundation to the work USDA-NRCS does in Micronesia. It has changed lives." "Great profiles - very helpful in a general sense. I especially like the examples of grower/processor successes - this really helps see how one might turn a crop into a commercial success. I also like the agroforestry benefits sections. Great stuff!" "A wide range of useful and interesting information for each of the specialty crops. Especially interesting to read info from other parts of the Pacific." "I am impressed with the quality of information provided for each of the crop profiles I reviewed. The pictures are beautiful and well explained. The profiles are valuable in that comparative information from different islands/ regions can be evaluated. I also appreciated 'shared stories' of individual farmers and start-ups as it lends a personal and realistic touch to the challenge of being successful and/or profitable." "This is a very valuable resource. I only rated some of the articles less valuable than others to show how I thought they stacked up relative to each other. In absolute terms, all of the articles I read were extremely helpful and a great addition to the available literature. There is a great value in having the various crops presented in the same format, so that the scope of information in each article is approximately the same." "I found the profiles extremely interesting and fairly comprehensive. The combination of cultivation with crop use information was very valuable. It is a good reminder that there needs to be a viable marketing endpoint for farmers." "Thank you for adding the section on disadvantages and pointing out the fact that some of them may be invasive." "I found the profiles extremely interesting and fairly comprehensive. The combination of cultivation with crop use information was very valuable. It is a good reminder that there needs to be a viable marketing endpoint for farmers." "This text is a very useful compendium of tropical specialty crops. It will likely become the standard reference. In addition, users may now consider alternatives that can be easily compared and contrasted. This book is likely to have significant and lasting impact with growers of specialty crops in the Pacific islands." "These types of technical resources are very important for landowners and technical assistance providers. I applaud your efforts in creating documents that represent an important selection of agroforestry species, are accessible in their format and style, and provide important technical information and references in a concise manner." "Excellent use of high quality photos, table, charts, maps and diagrams throughout this wonderful publication. Those really added value to this excellent work." "I am a firm believer in the value of crop diversity and permaculture principles. I appreciate the extensive research and work that has been put together to create this wonderful compilation of important crops in the Pacific region. I want to thank you for compiling this work and I commend all those who participated in this valuable and worthwhile project." "The crops in this volume are a real eye opener for the potential that Pacific Islanders can do with their land, especially when thinking about small farm incomes and the power of cooperatives." "I am a strong advocate of sustainable agricultural practices. These monographs are very useful and handy for extension programs delivery." "Definitely improved my knowledge in all the crops I know a lot about already, and more on the ones I know very little about." "I have advocated value-added processing from the beginning. It has become even more of a requirement to increase farm gate value to a higher level to survive the current economy." "The writing is helpful in our recommendations to community members. Some people learn most by doing, and many others by research. This writing is a simple way to accentuate our experiential teaching/learning with easy-access, and simply understood yet thorough information on the plants and practices we recommend."

Future Recommendations

Reoccurring themes in evaluator comments include: Profiles for additional crops "Other specialty crops that may be of high value to my work include: turmeric, pomegranate, guava, annatto, cassava, arrow root, sweet & sour sop, annonas, star fruit, neem, star apple." "Maybe another book that includes other lesser known varieties of fruits and vegetables as well as herbs and their health/medicinal values." "New crops based on fresh surveys and needs of clients should be included." "It would be great to see other timber products added to the list. Ones that our farmers could plant now as a long term economic product." Future updates to existing profiles "Update current information on each crop especially linking to any program and organization of plant materials resources." "…as more data becomes available this should be updated." "It might be useful to consider periodic updates of individual crop pdfs as new information becomes available." "Additional publications on specialty crops with corresponding expert authors are needed to extend cultural and production information." Translations to local languages "I recommend that the specialty crops project be expanded to include funding for translating the profiles into the native languages of the various Pacific island nations and users." "Improving the delivery of Limited English and Second Language documents for remote Micronesian locations." "If we can be allowed to translate to local languages, all or certain segments of those manuals that best fit our needs, that would be very useful." Cultural/regional specificity "I think there should be more attention paid to gender roles in agroforestry. It is very important to know that specific genders deal/work with specific natural products or efforts depending on the location and/or culture." "Regional profiles specific to Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia using the science, traditional or western, specific to that region and to address the unique socio-cultural-economic issues within each of these sub-regions (i.e., marketing discussions for isolated Micronesia will be different than for Hawaii Polynesia, etc.)." Additional pest & disease information “More info on pests and also likes and dislikes. Pest ecology is important. Disease resistant cultivars.” “More on pests/diseases/control measures/resistant cultivars. Not enough, especially in squash, chilipepper, and others. Critical.”