Enhancing the Economic Stability of Select Limited Resource Farms through the Establishment of Micropropagated Pecan Orchards Integrated with Crops and Animals

View the project final report

• 2010 annual report
• 2011 annual report

Commodities

• Agronomic: grass (misc. perennial), hay
• Fruits: melons
• Nuts: pecans
• Vegetables: beans, cabbages, greens (leafy), cucurbits, sweet corn, tomatoes
• Animals: goats

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing management, manure management, feed/forage
• Crop Production: agroforestry, crop rotation, intercropping, multiple cropping, nutrient cycling, application rate management
• Education and Training: demonstration, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, youth education, technical assistance
• Energy: energy conservation/efficiency
• Farm Business Management: agricultural finance
• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, hedgerows
• Pest Management: biological control, botanical pesticides, cultural control, economic threshold, field monitoring/scouting, integrated pest management, prevention, sanitation, traps, mulching - vegetative
• Production Systems: agroecosystems, organic agriculture, integrated crop and livestock systems
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, nutrient mineralization, soil microbiology, soil chemistry, soil physics, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures

This research planning grant was submitted by a team of researchers and extension professionals in a bid to develop a proposal on agroforestry involving integration of pecan orchards with vegetable, forage, and small ruminants. The project goal was to facilitate networking of research scientists and extension specialists to develop a grant proposal that target assisting limited resource farmers in five states-Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. The team developed a SARE research proposal entitled “Enhancing the sustainability of small farmers by integrating pecan orchards with small ruminants”. The team anticipates submitting the full proposal to SSARE by November, 2013.

The main objective of this project was to facilitate networking of research scientists and extension specialists and to develop grant proposal that target assisting limited resource farmers in five states-Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. The ultimate goal is to develop a low-cost, ecologically friendly system that integrates pecans, vegetable, forage crops and small ruminants for these farmers.