Progress report for SNE23-012-RI
Project Information
Diseases and insects can be a significant challenge in urban agriculture. Some common diseases in urban farms and community gardens include leaf spots, root rot, damping off, and blight, among others. Insects such as aphids, caterpillars, and squash bugs can also be common pests. To prevent and manage diseases and insects, Agricultural Service Providers will learn about insect and disease scouting and identification. Insects and plant diseases can cause severe economic losses to farmers and negatively impact food security. Identifying the specific insect or disease can help in choosing the right management technique, which may include biological control, cultural control, or organic options to manage the problem. During the three years of the project, Agricultural Service Providers and urban farmers will attend winter half-day workshops, insect and disease 'pest walks' at local urban farms, and participate in demonstrations of a portable plant diagnostics laboratory. Plant diseases and insect identification guides will be produced and distributed among the Agricultural Service Providers and participating farmers.
Over the three years of this project, we will train 6 urban agricultural service providers to identify insects and plant diseases in urban farms. With these new skills, the agricultural service providers will mentor and assist 50 urban farmers in Rhode Island.
Description of Problem or Opportunity:
Rhode Island has a strong community farm and garden movement, with more than 60 community gardens across the state and 70 acres in production. Many of these urban farmers grow crops that are sold in local farmers markets. The Southside Land Trust (SCLT) and African Alliance are nonprofit organizations that support community farms and gardens in the state. They provide resources, training, and networking opportunities to help farmers and gardeners start and maintain community farms and gardens. Community farms and gardens in Rhode Island serve many purposes, including providing fresh produce to residents, creating green space in urban areas, and promoting community building and education. Many community farms and gardens in Rhode Island are located on public land, such as city parks, state property or school grounds, while others are on private property or land owned by nonprofit organizations. Some community farms and gardens in Rhode Island are focused on serving specific populations, such as low-income residents, BIPOC communities, seniors, or immigrants. Community farms and gardens in Rhode Island face challenges such as access to agricultural training, water, land availability, and funding.
Solution and Benefits:
We will educate Agricultural Service Providers and farmers/gardeners on insect and disease scouting and identification. Scouting and identification of insects and plant diseases is crucial when growing crops. Insects and diseases can cause severe economic losses to farmers and negatively impact food security. Identifying the specific insect or disease helps to choose the right control measures including biological, cultural, or other IPM strategy, to prevent or manage the problem. It also helps in preventing the spread of insects and diseases to other crops or other growing area at a community garden. Additionally, the identification of insects and diseases is essential in monitoring and preventing the development of resistance to pesticides and preventing the use of unnecessary or ineffective treatments, reducing the negative environmental impact. Therefore, insect and disease identification is essential for sustainable agriculture and food production.
Once an identification is made then control measures must be considered. Organic control options will be explored in workshops and be included in resources produced for this project.
Service Provider Interest:
At online meetings with Agricultural Service Providers from Southside Community Land Trust and the Northern Conservation District in March 2023, five Agricultural Service Providers expressed interest in attending winter educational workshops, pest-walk workshops, and in seeing demonstrations and obtaining portable diagnostic lab kits on insect and disease scouting and identification. They expressed the need for educational programs and material about insects and diseases in the community gardens in Rhode Island. They also would like insect and disease guides with many pictures and very few words, that can be used with people who speak any language. They requested the guides include plant problems on ethnic crops grown in urban farms and gardens. Current picture pest guides, such as the Northeast Vegetable and Strawberry Pest Identification Guide produced by Cooperative Extension, does not include pests of crops grown in many urban farms and gardens. The ethnic crops often have pests not seen on crops typically grown on other farms. It was also suggested to us by the Agricultural Service Providers from Southside Community Land Trust that our guide include pictures of underserved growers managing their crops.
Advisors/Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor (Researcher)
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
Educational Approach
Engagement:
Six Agricultural Service Providers that work directly with urban farmers will be recruited from the non-profit organization Southside Community Land Trust and the Conservation Districts. Promotional emails will be followed up by personal phone calls or in-person conversations, inviting them to the workshops and pest walks. Agricultural Service Providers will be encouraged to invite farmers to all workshops.
The 6 service providers will be encouraged to participate in all three years of the project while we develop a pictorial pest management guide for them to use with their farmers. All 6 service providers work with underserved farmers in Rhode Island.
The participating agricultural service providers will be contacted via email after workshops to get their feedback and feedback from their farmers. We will share drafts of the pictorial pest guide as it is develop to ensure that the guide will serve their needs.
The Agricultural Service Providers will be encouraged to contact us to help solve difficult pest problems encountered by their farmers. The connection between URI Cooperative Extension, the Urban Agricultural Service Providers, and the urban farmers will continue into the future far beyond the time frame of this project.
Learning:
Through pest walks and workshops, Agricultural Service Providers and urban farmers will participate in winter workshops and summer pest walks provided by URI. Agricultural Service Providers will increase their knowledge on scouting and identification of insects and diseases in urban farms and learn best management techniques. All three components of pest management will be maintained throughout the project: scouting, identification and management techniques. Training will include information about product labels, PPE, and the proper use of different pesticide formulations.
Year One: Five urban farms will be visited with one or more Agricultural Service Provider, to scout for insect and disease problems as well as abiotic plant problems. Special attention will be made to ethic crops growing at the farms. Many pictures will be taken to be used in the later developed pictorial pest guide.
Year Two: One half-day classroom workshop will be held in the winter at Southside Community Land Trust's building in Providence. Common insect and disease problems and abiotic problems found at urban farms the previous year will be shared with Agricultural Service Providers and urban farmers. During the growing season, two pest walks will be conducted for the urban Agricultural Service Providers and urban farmers at two different urban farms. Additional pictures will be taken for the pictorial pest guide.
Year Three: During the winter, with input from the Agricultural Service Providers, a pictorial pest guide will be developed, focusing on ethic crops grown on Rhode Island's urban farms. Staff at URI's Mallon Outreach Center will assist with the graphic design of the guide at no cost to the project. This guide will focus on crops not included in typical pest guides produced by Cooperative Extension. Two pest walk/diagnostic workshops will be held during the growing season, using the new pictorial pest guides.
Evaluation:
Following each workshop/pest walk, attendees will be surveyed at the end of the workshop and 6 months later to determine whether or not they have improved their diagnostic techniques. At the 6-month evaluation, participants will be asked to describe how they used their new skills. The project plan may be amended depending on feedback from urban Agricultural Service Providers.
Milestones
Year 1 Milestone 1 - Engagement
Ten Agricultural Service Providers will be invited via email to scout urban farms with URI Cooperative Extension personnel. The urban farms will be farms where they currently are assisting underserved farmers. We expect six of these people to participate throughout the project. The six Agricultural Service Providers will be invited to all five of the scouting trips that will occur in Year One of this project. The first farm visit will occur in October 2023. URI Cooperative Extension personnel will make followup phone calls if needed to confirm participation.
Proposed completion date: 11/1/24
Status: Complete
Accomplishments:
Engagement meetings: Engagement meetings were conducted in Spring and Early summer of 2024 with Ag providers from South Side Community Land Trust and Northern Rhode Island Conservation District.
- On February 16, 2024 I met with Ben Torpey (Urban Edge Farm Manager) and Andrew Cook Andrew Cook (Director of Community Gardens Network) from South Side Community Land Trust in Providence RI. From that meeting, they expressed the need to conduct two winter workshops in winter 2024 and three URI SARE SCLT Pest Walk Workshops during the 2024 growing season (April, July and September) at two Urban Farms in Rhode Island: Urban Edge and Good Earth, Cranston Rhode Island.
- On March 6 2024, I met with Gennifer Keller and Todd Le from the Northern Rhode Island Conservation District to discuss the need to Pest Walks Workshops in Community Gardens. We planned on conducting Four URI SARE Workshops Pest Walks for BIPOC beginner urban farmers at Peace and Plenty Community Garden in Providence Rhode Island.
- On June 27, 2024 I met with Ellen Asermely from Southside Community Land Trust, Youth Programs Coordinator to conduct a URI SARE SCLT Workshop Pest Walk with kids from their summer youth program at the Youth Garden in Providence, RI.
Year 1 Milestone 2 - Learning
Six Agricultural Service Providers will visit at least one urban farm with URI Cooperative Extension personnel (Keiddy and Heather) to scout for crop production problems. Each of the five urban farm scouting trips will involve surveying the crops grown at the farm, looking for insects, plant diseases, weeds, and cultural problems. URI Cooperative Extension personnel will take many photographs of crops and crop problems found on the farm.
Proposed completing date: 11/1/24
Status: Complete
Accomplishments:
1.URI-SARE-SCLT, Winter 2024 -Workshops. Audience: Urban Farmers
Two Winter In-person Workshops were conducted at South Side Community Land Trust (SCLT) in Providence, RI. The two work shops were:
- Winter Workshop I: Diseases and Insects Prevention in Urban Greenhouses and Farms. Date: March 8. Duration: 2.5 hours . Participants: 15. In this workshop attends learned about Plant diseases and Insects Prevention, Scouting, Identification and Management in Greenhouses and High Tunnels.
- Winter Workshop II. Workshop Title: Diseases and Insects Scouting, Identification and Management in Urban Greenhouses and Farms. Date: April 3, 2024. Duration: 2.5 hours. Participants: 15. The participants learned about Plant diseases and Insects prevention, scouting, identification and management in Urban Farms.
2. URI-SARE-SCLT Workshops- Pest Walks, Urban Farms. Audience: Urban Farmers
- First Workshop-Pest Walk. April 3, 2024. Location: Urban Farms, Urban Edge Farm and Good Earth Farm in Cranston, Rhode Island. Duration: 3 hours . Participants visited the Greenhouses and high tunnels, where transplants were produced for the 2024 season for both farms. We toured the seedlings and propagating material of each grower in the greenhouses. The attendees learned about Disease and Insect Scouting, learned the principle and use of magnifying lenses, and magnifying lenses were provided to each attendee. We all scouted, identified, and gave management recommendations on the spot to Ag Service Providers and farmers in each farm. Three samples for unknown diseases from peppers, Brassicas, and Rosemary were taken to the URI Plant Diagnostic Lab for Diagnosis. Samples were diagnosed, and management recommendations were made to the farm manager and farmers.
- Second Workshop Pest Walk. July 17th, 2024. Participants visited two Urban Farms: Urban Edge Farm and Good Earth Farm in Cranston, Rhode Island. Duration: 3 hours. We visited the different plots of the growers who expressed concerns or suspected diseases, insects, or other plant health problems. We visited the plots where growers expressed concerns about pest problems. The attendees learned about Vegetable Diseases and Insect Scouting; Identification and management practices were provided on-site. For the unknown pest problems, five samples of unknown diseases from Zucchini, Bell peppers, Eggplant, Amaranthus, and parsley were taken to the URI Plant Diagnostic Lab for Diagnosis. Samples were diagnosed, and management recommendations were made to the farm manager and farmers.
- Third Workshop -Pest Walk. September 18, 2024. Participants visited two Urban Farms, Urban Edge Farm and Good Earth Farm, in Cranston, Rhode Island. Duration: 3 hours. We visited the different plots of the growers that expressed concerns or suspected diseases, insects, or other plant health problems. The attendees learned about Vegetable Diseases and Insect Scouting; Identification and management practices were provided on-site.
3. URI -SARE- Northern Rhode Island Conservancy District, Workshops -Pest Walks, Community Gardens and Youth Programs. Audience: Beginning Community Gardens growers and youth.
Pest Walks Workshops, Community Gardens:
Location: Peace and Plenty Community Garden, SCLT Garden. Providence Rhode Island
Four Pest Walks at Community Gardens were performed for year 1 of this project.
For all four workshops- pest walks, the participants learned about diseases, insects, and other health problems affecting plants in community gardens. A Disease and Insect’s Scouting, Identification and Management of your Veggie Urban Farm and Community Garden in Rhode Island fact Sheet was created and used to introduce the importance of Diseases and Insects in a vegetable garden. The fact sheet was translated to four leanguages: Spanish, Swahili, Hmong and Kinyarwanda. In the first part of the workshop, attendants learned about scouting and the use of magnifying glasses. Magnifying glasses and a printed version of a fact sheet in the participants language were provided for each participant. In the second part, participants learned about diseases and insects' symptoms and signs so they could be recognized in the garden. In the second part of the workshop, attendants were taken to the garden vegetable plots to scout for diseases and insects and between 8 to 10 stops represented either a disease or insect problem. During each stop, There was a brief description of each insect, disease, or other problem, tips on how to identify the pest, and suggestions on the management of the problem. The participants could ask questions at each stop, and at the end of the Pest Walk, they asked questions, too.
- Workshop- Pest Walk 1. August 8. Attendants: 18 beginner garden growers and 3 Ag providers
- Workshop- Pest Walk 2. August 19 Attendants: 25 beginner garden growers and 3 Ag providers
- Workshop- Pest Walk 3. August 22 Attendants: 15 beginner garden growers and 3 Ag providers
- Workshop- Pest Walk 4. September 4. Attendants: 5 beginner garden growers and 3 Ag providers
Pest Walks Workshops, Community Gardens-Youth
Location: SCLT Youth Garden, Providence Rhode Island.
Duration: 2 hours
This workshop followed the same format as the Workshops Pest Walks at the Community Gardens. The kids learned the importance of Plant and Diseases in their garden. They have to opportunity to learn the use of the magnifying glass and practice it by scouting their own crops. They learned about Diseases and Insects and how to manage them in the garden.
Year 1 Milestone 3 - Evaluation
The six participating Agricultural Service Providers will be questioned either in person, telephone, or via email about there experience of scouting for plant problems in urban farms. URI Cooperative Extension personnel will ask the participants about what crops and plant problems they think should be included in a pictorial urban plant pest guide.
Proposed completion date: 12/31/24
Status: Complete
Accomplishments:
- At the end of the first workshop, participants were asked for feedback on the material covered during the workshop. Participants said they learned about the importance of sanitation and the prevention of insects and diseases in their high tunnels and greenhouses. They expressed the need for a second Winter workshop.
-
URI- SARE- SCLT winter workshop II. A second winter workshop was conducted at SCLT in April 2024. After the first workshop the farmers and Ag providers thought it was helpful for them to learn about the most critical pests and diseases that could affect their pests. They were very engaged during the workshops and asked several questions. Also, they were very engaged during the presentations, where they recognized insects or diseases that they had in the crops in the past. The participants asked several questions during and after the presentations.
- An evaluation form was sent to the Ag Service providers. An Ag Service Provider marked that he Improved his awareness of the topics covered, Provided new knowledge and Provided new skills. They are willing to participate in a education program that I plan or participate in for next year's activities and use as a resource that will be available to producers.
- As an educator and facilitator I also improve my knowledge in Insects identification by teaching these workshops.
- The URI Technical experts and Ag providers noticed improvements in the health and sanitation of the seedlings and plants produced in April and May at Good Earth and Urban Edge Farm.
- We noticed that the Winter webinars helped the farmers learn about pest scouting, prevention, and sanitation.
- We followed up on the problems observed in the previous pest walls and evaluated the recommended management approaches.
- An evaluation form was sent to the Ag Service providers. Ag Service Providers noted an improvement in their awareness of the topics covered. Provided new knowledge and Provided new skills. They are willing to participate in an education program that I plan or participate for next year's activities and use as a resource that will make available to producers
- As an educator and facilitator, I also improve my knowledge of insect and weed identification and management from my URI peers in the Pest Walks.
The Workshops-Pest Walks in the Community Garden were evaluated in person by the end of each pest walk. I asked the participants for their input about the material covered. Most of them were very excited to learn the use of the magnifying glass for the first time and how useful it would be to scout their plants. During the pest walk, they recognized some of the insect and disease problems that they were experiencing on their own farms/plots for gardens. Each Pest walk was a small group, so every time, I improved on teaching them the most important ways to identify, scout, and manage pests in their own plants.
Year 2 Milestone 4 - Engagement
Ten urban Agricultural Service Providers will be invited via email to a half-day workshop on insect and plant disease diagnostics. The workshop will be held at the Southside Community Land Trust building in Providence. URI Cooperative Extension personnel will make follow-up phone calls if needed.
Proposed completion date: 3/31/25
Year 2 Milestone 5 - Learning
Six urban Agricultural Service Providers will attend a half-day workshop on plant problem diagnostics. Topics will include the diagnostic process and identification of common insects and plant diseases attacking crops at urban farms. URI Cooperative Extension personnel will take many photographs of crops and crop problems found on the farm.
Proposed completion date: 5/31/25
Year 2 Milestone 6 - Evaluation
Six workshop participants will be surveyed through a group discussion at the end of the workshop and also at the end of the growing season with an online survey. Participants will be surveyed about the usefulness of the workshop and how it could be improved for future workshops. We will survey them as to whether or not they were able to help identify plant problems for the urban farmers they worked with in 2025.
Proposed completion date: 12/31/25
Year 2 Milestone 7 - Engagement
Ten urban Agricultural Service Providers will be invited via email to two Pest Walks at urban farms led by URI Cooperative Extension personnel during the growing season. URI Cooperative Extension personnel will make followup phone calls if needed.
Proposed completion date: 8/31/25
Year 2 Milestone 8 - Learning
Six urban Agricultural Service Providers will attend at least one of the two Pest Walks at urban farms. The participants will be encouraged to invite urban farmers they work with. The Pest Walk will include training attendees how to scout for insect and disease problems at the urban farm and how to identify the problems once they are found.
Proposed completion date: 9/30/25
Year 2 Milestone 9 - Evaluation
All Pest Walk participants will be surveyed via a paper evaluation at the end of the Pest Walk. Attendees will also be evaluated at the end of the project to learn about their experiences in the 2026 growing seasons with regards to diagnosing plant problems.
Proposed completion date: 9/30/26
Year 3 Milestone 10 - Engagement
Ten urban Agricultural Service Providers will be sent drafts of the pictorial pest guide so that they can make comments and improvements to the guide. The ten service providers will be invited to participate in two Pest Walks at urban farms during the growing season, using the newly developed pictorial pest guides. They will be encouraged to invite urban farmers to attend the Pest Walks.
Proposed completion date: 8/31/26
Year 3 Milestone 11 - Learning
Six urban Agricultural Service Providers and URI Cooperative Extension personnel will use the newly developed pictorial pest guide at two Pest Walks at urban farms during the growing season. Participating growers and service providers will be able to keep a printed copy of the guide.
Proposed completion date: 8/31/26
Year 3 Milestone 12 - Evaluation
All Pest Walk participants will be asked to provide feedback on the guide at the end of each Pest Walk and also with a followup email. There will also be an open discussion at the end of the Pest Walk for participants to provide feedback for future engagement with URI and urban agriculture.
Proposed completion date: 9/30/26
Throughout the project, the advisory panel members will be asked for suggestions about upcoming trainings and their participation. Advisory panel will also be able to edit and contribute to the pictorial pest guide.
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
Educate Urban Farmers on Diseases and Insects Scouting, Identification and Management in filed days, one to one consultations, workshops, etc
Urban Farms:400 acres, plots vary between 0.1 to 20 acres
Community gardens: plots vary 0.1 to 0.2 acres
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 7 |
Helping farmers in Disease and Insect, scouting, pest ID and providing management recommendations. Also the Ag Service Providers submitted samples for Diagnosis to the URI Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, submitted photos and other questions to the lab via email, calls or text messages.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 100 |
| Activity | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultations | 199 | 199 | ||
| On-farm demonstrations | 37 | 37 | ||
| Tours | 9 | 9 | ||
| Webinars, talks and presentations | 4 | 4 | ||
| Workshops and field days | 16 | 16 |
The service providers conducted one one consultation, workshops, field days, etc. were they gave the farmers training of pest scouting, identification and management. Service providers follow up on the farmers pest problems and assessed the impact in production in adopting earlier detection of pests.
Performance Target Outcomes - Farmers
Target #1
100
Improve the management of pest in their crops
0.2 to 20
25
25
0.2 to 20
Additional Project Outcomes
Overall, I am very happy with the first-year educational methods; I think it was a good educational strategy to conduct the winter Workshops in the first year of the project. It was beneficial for Ag service providers and farmers to get an in-classroom overview of the Prevention of Pests in their greenhouses and high tunnels early in the season and then learn in the classroom about the most common diseases and insects: scouting, identification, and management. The participants were very engaged and willing to learn during the hands-on workshops. The Ag service providers and farmers were very engaged, asked several questions, and contributed to all our knowledge. It was great to invite a weed scientist and an entomologist to the Pest Walls; the Ag providers and Farmers had the opportunity to get information and recommendations in their own plots, which I think is very effective.
For next year, I need to implement better ways to assess the farms' improvement by adopting all the knowledge they are gaining and measuring how to improve their IPM strategies. I already talked with Katie Campbell-Nelson, and she gave me excellent ideas on how to do this.
SARE Outreach
- Feb 14 RIAgNotes. SARE Grants: $1.25 M available for service providers and graduate students to advance sustainable agriculture in the Northeast. #Contacts: 570
- March 1 Register for the SARE Partnership and Graduate Students Grants Q&A sessions In March.#Contacts: 570
- April 15. Tristate Workshop. Rhode SARE livestock . SARE livestock. #Contacts: 570
- June 12. Grant funding opportunities for farmers: NE SARE is offering a series of Q&A sessions related to the various grants it is offering for 2025 funding. #Contacts: 570
- Sept. 4. Northeast SARE farmer grants, which are due on Nov. 12. #Contacts: 570
- Nov 6. SARE Famers Grants Due Nov 12. #Contacts: 570.
- Nov 20. Northeast SARE has a new grant program. The Historically Underserved Farmer/Farming (HUF) Community grant program funds projects that create farming and food system opportunities for historically underserved farmers/farming communities and prioritizes work that engages, and is led by, people with experience from those communities. #Contacts: 570
The State Coordinator participated in Farmer's field and Twilight Farmers meetings during 2024, where Northeast SARE and SARE printed material, SARE USB Library drives and grant opportunities were advertised and distributed among participants. These combined efforts facilitate the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices in Rhode Island.
- RI Fruit Growers Association, Annual Meeting March 19, 6-8:00. #Contacts: 40
- RI Fruit Growers Association Twilight Meeting, Weds, May 22 at 5:30pm at Small World Farm, 229 Long Highway, Little Compton, RI. # # Contacts: 55
- RI Fruit Growers Association Twilight Meeting, April 16 5:30-7:30 at URI's East Farm. # Contacts: 35
- URI Research and Extension Field Day on the afternoon of Sunday, August 18. URI Agricultural Farm. # Contacts: 52
- Young Farmers Night at Saunderstown Garlic Farm next Weds. Oct. 30 from 4-6pm. #Contacts: 31
- URI -SARE-SCLT Winter Workshop 1. March 8, 2024. #Contacts: 14
- URI -SARE-SCLT Winter Workshop 2. April 3, 2024. #Contacts: 15
- URI -SARE-SCLT Workshop- Pest Walk 1. April 17, Cranston RI. #Contacts: 15
- URI -SARE-SCLT Workshop- Pest Walk 2. Cranston RI. #Contacts: 12
- URI -SARE-SCLT Workshop- Pest Walk 3. Cranston RI. #Contacts: 10
- URI -SARE - RI Northern Conservancy District - Community Garden, Workshop- Pest Walk 1. August 8, 2024. Peace and Plenty Community Garden . Providence, RI. #Contacts: 21
- URI -SARE - RI Northern Conservancy District - Community Garden, Workshop- Pest Walk 1. August 19, 2024. Peace and Plenty Community Garden. Providence, RI. #Contacts: 28.
- URI -SARE - RI Northern Conservancy District - Community Garden, Workshop- Pest Walk 1. August 22, 2024 Peace and Plenty Community Garden . Providence, RI. #Contacts: 15.
- URI -SARE - RI Northern Conservancy District - Community Garden, Workshop- Pest Walk 4. September 24, 2024. Peace and Plenty. Providence, RI. #Contacts: 8.
Recieved information about SARE grant programs and information resouces:
| Audience | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service providers | 100 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Farmers | 570 | 0 | 0 | 570 |