Organic Agriculture Hands-on Training and Educational Materials for Extension Professionals in the Southeast

Organic Agriculture Hands-on Training and Educational Materials for Extension Professionals in the Southeast

Summary

The project collaborators drawn from the five cooperating institutions including Tuskegee University(lead institution),Auburn University, North Carolina State University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network, teamed up to accomplish the overall project goal of enhancing the knowledge-base and practical skills of Extension personnel, mentor farmers and NRCS personnel, in organic agriculture. The first part was achieved by conducting a two day basic organic agriculture workshop hosted by Tuskegee University from May 17-18, 2011. A total of 55 trainees attended the workshop where the following topics were covered: General Principles of Organic Production; Overview of the Organic Farming Industry; Healthy Soils and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPS) as the Foundation of a Good Organic System; Insect Pest Management in Organic Farming Systems; Organic Farming and Food Safety; Economics of Organic Farming and Related Issues; Marketing of Organic Products; and Organic Standards and Certification. The workshop also included a roundtable discussion on the viability of organic farming in the Southeast. The workshop concluded with a field visit to a successful certified organic farm in Barbour County, Alabama. Educational resources were developed and disseminated to the target audience including posting on Tuskegee University homepage. The impact of the training workshop was evaluated by Tuskegee University using pre- and post-tests, self-reporting, as well as follow-up interviews. The results revealed positive short-and medium-term impacts of the educational program with majority of participants reporting increased awareness, increased knowledge and confidence in teaching about organic farming practices.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The overall goal of this project was to enhance the organic agriculture knowledge base and practical skills of target audience that included the Extension personnel, mentor farmers and NRCS personnel from the southeast region of US. The specific objectives were to 1) Organize and conduct in-class workshops and hands-on training exercises and 2) Develop educational resources accessible to the educators in the SSARE Region States. The objectives were accomplished by the project collaborators drawn from the five cooperating institutions, Tuskegee University (lead institution), Auburn University, North Carolina State University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network.

Accomplishments/Milestones

To accomplish the first objective of organizing and conducting a series of in-class workshops and hands-on training exercises, professionals from the five cooperating institutions gathered research-based knowledge and presented it to the target audience covering the following topics: General Principles of Organic Production; Overview of the Organic Farming Industry; Healthy Soils and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPS) as the Foundation of a Good Organic System; Insect Pest Management in Organic Farming Systems; Organic Farming and Food Safety; Economics of Organic Farming and Related Issues; Marketing of Organic Products; and Organic Standards and Certification. The two day workshop was hosted by Tuskegee University on May 17-18, 2011 where a total of 55 trainees attended. Educational resources developed by the professionals were used during the training workshop. The workshop included a roundtable discussion on the viability of organic farming in the Southeast and a concluded with a field visit to a successful certified organic farm in Barbour County, Alabama.

A teleconference meeting of collaborators was conducted in July 2011 to discuss the outcome and feedback from the training workshop. The lessons learnt were used for planning and improving the advanced workshop and hands-on experiential learning the following year in North Carolina State.

The second objective of compiling and distributing educational resources was achieved during the period May to September 2011. Each collaborator contributed in their area of expertise in organic agriculture while tapping research based knowledge from several sources, including the USDA National Agricultural Library, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), Rodale Institute, ATTRA- National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, and The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, among others. Each collaborator was assigned 1-2 topics for compiling educational resources that were posted on Tuskegee University homepage.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

A total of 55 Extension personnel, mentor farmers and NRCS personnel received extensive training in organic agriculture. The impact of the training workshop was evaluated by Tuskegee University using pre- and post-tests, self-reporting, as well as follow-up interviews. The results revealed positive short-and medium-term impacts of the educational program with majority of participants reporting increased awareness, increased knowledge and confidence in teaching about organic farming practices.

Collaborators: