New Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry

View the project final report

• 2008 annual report
• 2009 annual report
• 2010 annual report

Commodities

• Agronomic: sugarcane
• Fruits: avocados, bananas, figs, citrus, pineapples
• Vegetables: sweet potatoes, greens (leafy)
• Additional Plants: herbs, native plants, ornamentals, trees
• Animals: bees, bovine, poultry, goats, sheep, swine
• Miscellaneous: mushrooms

Practices

• Animal Production: feed/forage, free-range
• Crop Production: conservation tillage
• Education and Training: technical assistance, display, extension, networking
• Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, marketing management, feasibility study, agricultural finance, market study, risk management, value added
• Natural Resources/Environment: afforestation, biodiversity, hedgerows, riparian buffers, soil stabilization, wildlife
• Pest Management: cultural control, integrated pest management, mulches - living, trap crops, mulching - vegetative
• Production Systems: permaculture
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis
• Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities, urban agriculture, urban/rural integration, sustainability measures

To support the vast potential for new Pacific island specialty crops, Farm and Forest Production and Marketing (FFPM) profiles for 32 crops were developed to support the region’s participation in the world marketplace for high quality food, fiber, and healthcare products. The FFPM profiles detail essential information for crop development: horticulture and botany, the roles for each crop in mixed-crop agroforestry, commercial products, product quality standards, location and size of markets, post-harvest processing, opportunities for local value-added processing, and genetic improvement. The completed FFPM profiles are available for free, unrestricted download in pdf format from www.agroforestry.net/scps.

1. 1. Survey Pacific island species experts and local agriculture and forestry professionals to select 32 promising crop species to be covered by the project.
   2. Identify candidate authors for the 32 FFPM profiles and secure author commitments.
   3. Locate at least two photographs to illustrate each profile.
   4. Produce the 32 FFPM manuscripts (4-8 pages each) through a series of author-editor revisions, and finally review by educators and farmers.
   5. Publish the 32 profiles as PDF files for free download from agroforestry.net (a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization) as they are completed.
   6. Distribute a full set of the completed profiles in hard copy and cd to 100 libraries, public service offices, and agricultural professionals throughout the U.S.-affiliated Pacific.
   7. Publicize the profiles through several channels, including Pacific island agricultural journals, international agroforestry journals, internal university and USDA newsletters, and the SAN Program’s Source Book of Sustainable Agriculture and sanet-mg.
   8. Conduct a phone survey of at least 30 agricultural extension professionals and practitioners 3 months after distribution to evaluate behavioral impact.