Progress report for WHI21-001
Project Information
The Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Program (SOAP) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH CTAHR) remains committed to conducting annual professional development educational opportunities for agricultural professionals (AG PRO) in cooperation with WSARE, on evidence based, sustainable agricultural practices. The WSARE PDP program allows us to continue servicing and educating agricultural professionals in advancing sustainable agricultural practices which are in line with WSARE’s goals in advancing stewardship of the island’s natural resources by providing site-specific, sustainable farming and ranching methods that strengthens agricultural competitiveness; satisfies human food and fiber needs, maintain, conserve, enhance the quality and productivity of soil; conserve water, energy, natural resources, and maintain and improve the quality of surface and ground water. We anticipate providing agricultural professionals and producers with the technologies, skills and competencies to increase on farm productivity and efficiency; safeguard human, farm, biological and natural resources; reduce unnecessary crop and chemical inputs; and improve the overall quality of life of Hawaii’s farmers and agricultural communities through education, outreach, and applied research.
Based on results from stakeholder and advisory member engagements, ongoing and increased emphasis in the 2021-2023 training period are expected to be placed on the following topics:
- Reduced reliance on imported inputs for plant and soil health
- Seed saving and distribution/exchange
- Fruit tree / organic seed production
- Protected environment (e.g. screen house) production
- Improved dissemination of information directly to growers
- Improving agricultural professionals’ capacity to serve new and beginning farmers
- Crop Livestock integration
- Sustainable rangeland management
Advisors
- - Technical Advisor (Educator and Researcher)
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor (Educator and Researcher)
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
Education
Hawaii is geographically isolated from the continental US as well as within the states counties. This makes it challenging for Ag professionals to access educational opportunities nationwide. Our program increases access to local and national educational opportunities through travel scholarships and program support. We also bring in outside topic expertise to the state to provide local ag professionals with vital information to help increase their capacity to promote sustainable agriculture.
The project also provides a statewide annual training to update ag professionals on some of the technological improvements in agriculture to help them stay relevant. The education training provides a day of formal education presented by topic experts and followed by farm visits to expose ag professionals to the diversity of agricultural production systems being utilized around the state.
The project has also implemented a mini grant program to help support cross training and enhance Ag professionals capacity to promote stainable agriculture and service their clientele groups.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
Provide agricultural professionals and producers with the technologies, skills and competencies to increase on farm productivity and efficiency.
The Hawaii WSARE PDP activities focused on disseminating research-based information to support the top five priority areas identified by Hawaii’s agricultural professionals in the HI WSARE Needs Assessment Survey: 1) Pest Management, 2) Creating Educational Videos, 3) Produce Quality, 4) Web-based Media to Reach Clientele, and 5) Agricultural Technologies such as drones, precision ag, applications, etc. Previous PDP events have focused heavily on edible crop production systems and soil/conservation topics. Minority votes on priority subjects included requests for livestock and technology use in animal production. Focused workshops, field demonstrations, farm tours, PowerPoint/lecture slides, face-to-face interaction, agent sharing, and integration of the latest technology were the top-ranked methods of information delivery for professional development training. Information obtained from the SOAP Needs Assessment helped to formulate our agenda.
Educational programs that allow participants to learn more about evidence-based and localized sustainable and organic practices are vital to our continued success in changing agricultural practices in an island state. One hundred percent of participants indicated that the events helped them learn new skills and also stated a modification in their opinions and attitudes towards the educational topics offered. Covid has also forced a shift in how training and services are provided, which has led to an increased virtual or digital platform for disseminating educational information.
Now that restrictions from the COVID pandemic have been reduced, we were able to host our annual flagship AgPro workshop, which is one main event that helps bring extension professionals from the different Hawaiian islands together to develop skills that help them better address clientele needs. In 2021, we hosted our first in-person AgPro event on Oahu in partnership with the Western Extension Risk Management Program to bring in expertise on engaging the adult learner so that our extension agents have additional tools to help engage their clientele in their respective fields. In 2022, We held our second AgPro event in Hilo and focused on developing skills in diagnosing pests and diseases. In 2023, we held our AgPro event on Kauai. We partnered with the University of Idaho Extension faculty to learn about their Integrated Pest Management training tool, which has applications for youth and adult learners.
Provide educational opportunities to participants in remote location.
Due to the global pandemic caused by Covid-19 many educational opportunities were cancelled or postponed. To adapt to these challenges output techniques were modified to allow for remote or virtually based workshops and demonstrations. Many platforms are available for the virtual dissemination of information. One of the more common platforms for visual education is zoom. This platform allows for social distancing while still allowing for transfer of information. The project has been using this platform to conduct educational workshops in place of in person events. The project is also working on a digital database of crop production information for both Ag professionals and growers to use to help improve access to geographically specific information.
Participants indicated that this platform was appropriate for the topics being presented. Participants also indicated that the information learned through zoom is directly related to their clientele and production systems. This platform has also allowed the project to reach clientele groups that my have normally been excluded due to remote geographic locations. The project has been using this platform to conduct educational workshops in place of in person events. The project is also working on a digital database of crop production information for both Ag professionals and growers to use to help improve access to geographically specific information.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
Face of SARE
The project team is grateful to SARE/USDA for supporting the limited resources available in Hawaii and making it easy for the project team to reach out to wider range of areas and growers throughout the state of Hawaii.
The SARE logo, publications, and funding sources were/are mentioned in all the events used the project funds.