Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
Proposal abstract:
The project will target University of Arkansas Pine Bluff (UAPB) and East Arkansas Enterprise Community (EAEC) Agents, farmers, ranchers, urban farmers, and individuals in food desert areas. Sustainable agriculture practices such as cover crops, conservation tillage, companion crops, mulches, drip tape, and biodiversity will be emphasized. Cover crop researchers from the University of Arkansas and soil health specialists from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will help educate agents and others. The agents and others will also attend sustainable field days and conferences to deepen their understanding of sustainable agricultural practices.
To help develop sustainable communities in food-desert areas, agents will assist groups or individuals in growing fresh vegetables for consumption using sustainable agricultural practices. Additional information on community gardens and raised beds will also be provided.
To provide hands-on training and to help farmers decide whether to adopt sustainable practices, agents will conduct demonstrations. Demonstrations will be conducted at UAPB, EAEC, Crump Garden, Washington Community Development Center, and the three UAPB Farms. Demonstrations of sustainable agricultural practices for southern peas and sweet potatoes will be performed. Likewise, cover crop demonstrations and high tunnel demonstrations will be conducted. The demonstrations at the Lonoke Farm will be included in the annual field day, and those at the Marianna Farm will be included in the Edible Garden Conferences held in Marianna.
The last part of this project involves educating agents, farmers, and others about NRCS conservation programs that provide cost-share assistance for installing certain sustainable agriculture practices.
Project objectives from proposal:
This project will educate UAPB and EAEC Agents, mentor farmers, and producers on sustainable agricultural practices, including the five principles of soil health. Education on the use of cover crops, crop rotations, nutrient management, and conservation tillage will be emphasized in row and vegetable crop production. Education on the importance of rotational grazing will be noted with livestock producers. Arkansas researchers who work on cover crops and NRCS soil health specialists will be contacted to provide education and information to the UAPB Agents and others.
This project will also provide education and assistance in vegetable production to individuals in food-desert communities. Arkansas is the most food-insecure state in the United States. Individuals, groups, and others with community gardens and raised beds will also be introduced to sustainable gardening practices.
UAPB and EAEC will have sustainable vegetable demonstrations at their locations. In addition, there will be southern peas and sweet potato demonstrations at UAPB's Lonoke and Mariana Farms. To assist in the education of agents, they will attend sustainable conferences and field days.
Training objectives
Objective One - To educate agents, mentor farmers, and producers about the use of sustainable agriculture practices such as cover crops, conservation tillage, crop rotations, biodiversity, and nutrient management.
Objective Two - To educate individuals, groups, and others in food-desert communities on how to grow community or other gardens using sustainable agriculture practices such as companion crops and drip tape.
Objective Three - To provide sustainable agriculture demonstrations with sweet potatoes, southern peas, cover crops, and high tunnels. In addition, demonstrations will be conducted with community gardens and raised beds.
Objective Four - To attend conferences and field days to obtain knowledge and information about the efficient use of sustainable agriculture practices.