Organic Vegetable Farming in American Samoa

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Commodities

• Vegetables: cabbages, cucurbits, eggplant, onions, tomatoes

Practices

• Crop Production: no-till
• Education and Training: demonstration, extension, on-farm/ranch research
• Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, marketing management, value added
• Production Systems: holistic management, integrated crop and livestock systems
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, composting, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: social networks, sustainability measures

While the use of compost has increased in American Samoa, few producers are monitoring to see how the compost affects soil fertility or vegetable production. Lina Tuifalasia will use the SARE grant to see how the organic method of composting increases soil fertility. Two equal size plots will be compared, one with the current method of clearing weeds and planting seedlings and the other using composting and tilling. The same vegetables will be planted in both plots – cucumber, cabbage, spring onion and eggplant – and the production compared to assess any values that might derive from compost. Tuifalasia’s hope is that the compost will add nitrogen and potassium to soils currently deficient in those nutrients, which will increase his production and the income from vegetables sold at the market.