Developing a Hydroponic Training Program for Southeastern Extension Agents and Mentor Farmers

Commodities

Practices

The southeastern U.S. faces challenges in horticultural production due to hot, humid, and long summers that exacerbate issues such as severe weed, soil-borne pests, and diseases. Hydroponic cultivation offers a sustainable solution by minimizing pesticide use and facilitating year-round crop production in controlled environments like high tunnels, greenhouses, and indoor spaces. This method also extends the growing season beyond traditional periods, reducing market competition and enhancing profitability. However, professional training on hydroponic practices is limited in Mississippi and surrounding states.

This project aims to bridge that knowledge gap through a hydroponic train-the-trainer program, which will empower Extension agents and mentor farmers via two comprehensive workshops, four field days, and monthly on-farm training or site visits. Hydroponic systems including deep water culture (DWC), nutrient film technique (NFT), and Dutch buckets will be installed at four locations across Mississippi to conduct cultivar trials and demonstrate year-round cultivation of horticultural crops such as lettuce, basil, nasturtium, and pepper. We will expand our impact by developing Extension publications and online resources to disseminate practical, locally tailored hydroponic knowledge throughout the southeastern U.S.

Direct beneficiaries include Extension agents, mentor farmers, and workshop/field day attendees, while indirect benefits will extend to those they train and individuals accessing our publications. This initiative will help underserved small-scale growers and other stakeholders build resilience to climate change through hydroponic practices. Success will be evaluated through the number of trained trainers, attendance at field days, participant feedback, and engagement with our published resources.

The ultimate goal of this project is to provide additional growing methodologies to underserved small growers and other stakeholders, empowering them to develop sustainable farming practices using hydroponic and related controlled environment agriculture (CEA) techniques. This will reduce pesticide use and build resilience to increasingly unpredictable and challenging climate patterns. The current goal of this project is to develop a train-the-trainer program for Extension agents and mentor farmers from Mississippi and other southeastern states. This program aims to equip these individuals with the fundamental and practical knowledge to manage hydroponic systems and achieve year-round production of horticultural food and ornamental crops. We will accomplish these goals through five objectives:

Objective 1: Install and set up hydroponic systems at four locations in Mississippi, including deep water culture (DWC), nutrient film technique (NFT), and Dutch buckets. These systems will be used to demonstrate year-round cultivation of horticultural crops.

Objective 2: Conduct cultivar trials of lettuce, basil, nasturtium, and pepper in hydroponic systems across various seasons at different locations in Mississippi.

Objective 3: Demonstrate hydroponic cultivation of various horticultural crops in at least four field days held by the Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station (TCBES), the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center (NMREC), and two hub mentor farms (collaborating with the Alliance of Sustainable Farms), respectively.

Objective 4: Develop two workshops for Extension agents and mentor farmers to introduce the fundamental principles of hydroponic setup, nutrient management, seedling cultivation, harvest, and sanitation. The workshops will also cover the distinctions between different hydroponic systems and specific maintenance practices for various horticultural crops.

Objective 5: Publish Extension publications and online educational tutorials to disseminate hydroponic techniques to a broader audience, including Extension specialists, county agents, growers, master gardeners, homeowners, and other relevant stakeholders in the southeastern US.

With these five objectives, participants will become key facilitators of knowledge transfer, leading to a broader, community-wide adoption of hydroponic and CEA practices that enhance resilience and sustainability in agriculture. The expected skills and motivation acquired by county agents and mentor farmers through this training include:

• Train growers and stakeholders using their knowledge of hydroponics
• Implement hydroponic techniques in their farms
• Select appropriate hydroponic systems according to crop types
• Identify suitable crops for hydroponic cultivation
• Operate hydroponic systems effectively
• Troubleshoot and manage hydroponic systems independently
• Promote hydroponic practices in their communities

The training materials developed from this project will be formatted into fact sheets, online videos, and extension publications. These resources will be made accessible online to benefit a wider range of stakeholders, particularly targeting audiences from the southeastern region with similar climates, other academic institutions, small-scale growers, hydroponic growers, K-12 schools, governmental organizations, industry, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders.