Greenhouse Water Barrier

View the project final report

Commodities

• Fruits: melons
• Vegetables: cucurbits, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes

Practices

• Education and Training: display, farmer to farmer
• Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns, marketing management, agricultural finance, value added
• Pest Management: field monitoring/scouting, prevention, row covers (for pests)
• Production Systems: agroecosystems, holistic management
• Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities, analysis of personal/family life, community services, employment opportunities, social networks, sustainability measures

Guam and a large part of the Pacific Island nations basically have two seasons – wet and dry – which limits production of much needed plants. Only a few crops can tolerate the plant pathogens, insects and excessive moisture of the rainy season. In this project, four farmers will test greenhouse film stretched across rows of crops to act as a rain barrier, a method used in many Asian countries to control moisture and limit insects and diseases. The goal is to grow cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupe, eggplant, pepper, tomatoes and beans, the production of which is typically crippled by heavy rain. The practice should also reduce the volume of pesticides farmers use to counter the pests. Because many of the farms sit over the island’s water lens, the reduction in pesticide use should reduce chemicals that might enter the aquifer.