Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: corn, cotton, soybeans, grass (misc. perennial), hay
- Fruits: apples, berries (other), figs, grapes, citrus, peaches, pears, plums, quinces, berries (strawberries), melons
- Nuts: pecans
- Vegetables: beans, cabbages, greens (leafy), onions, sweet corn, tomatoes, turnips, brussel sprouts
- Additional Plants: herbs, native plants, ornamentals
- Miscellaneous: mushrooms
Practices
- Animal Production: feed/forage
- Crop Production: cover crops, double cropping, forestry, intercropping, multiple cropping, municipal wastes, nutrient cycling, organic fertilizers, application rate management, tissue analysis, contour farming
- Education and Training: technical assistance, demonstration, display, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research
- Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, cooperatives, marketing management, market study
- Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, grass waterways, habitat enhancement, soil stabilization
- Pest Management: allelopathy, biological control, biorational pesticides, botanical pesticides, chemical control, competition, cultural control, disease vectors, eradication, field monitoring/scouting, genetic resistance, integrated pest management, mulches - living, mating disruption, physical control, mulching - plastic, prevention, row covers (for pests), sanitation, soil solarization, traps, mulching - vegetative, weather monitoring, weed ecology
- Production Systems: holistic management
- Soil Management: green manures, organic matter, soil analysis
- Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities, partnerships, public participation, urban agriculture, urban/rural integration, employment opportunities, social networks
Abstract:
This Training Enhancement Project developed educational materials and demonstrations of alternative crops to support training in sustainable agriculture for Extension agents, public agency professionals, and members of the North Florida/South Georgia agricultural community. Four one-day Field Days attracted over 520 participants who learned about sustainable fruit crops, landscape plants, and associated production practices to make these crops more environmentally sustainable. An additional training provided Extension agents with in-depth information on sustainable fruit crops and landscape plants. Educational resources were revised and packaged into handouts that were distributed during the Field Days as well as to interested parties upon request.
Project objectives:
The objective of this Training Enhancement Project is to develop educational materials and demonstrations of alternative crops and production practices to support training in sustainable agriculture for Extension agents, other public agency professionals, and leaders from the North Florida small farm community.
Specific objectives are to:
1. Train at least 30 county Extension faculty members and at least 30 farmers and other professionals in the concepts of multi-crop farming systems emphasizing native crops and ecologically sound production practices.
2. Assist county faculty in the establishment of demonstration plots utilizing these crops and principles on farms in North Florida.