INTEGRATED SUSTAINABLE SMALL FARM TRAINING IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1010601
• Grant No.: 2016-70004-25719
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $130,000.00
• Proposal No.: 2016-06004
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2019
• Grant Year: 2016
• Program Code: [AA-Q]- Resident Instruction Grants for Insular Areas

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF GUAM UOG STATION
(N/A)
MANGILAO,GU 96913

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
Fragile ecosystems on Guam and other Micronesian islands need development of sustainable farm systems. The University of Guam (UOG), a land-grant institution in the Western Pacific, has a responsibility to educate college students, K-12 students and the general public of the importance of proper development and management of sustainable farm systems in the region. Long-term goals of agriculture and food science instruction at UOG are: to harness research and educational resources to help address local food, agriculture, and environmental needs; to support local economic growth; to create leaders and professionals for the next generation needed to address challenges of food security, human health, energy security and climate change; and to prepare students to achieve their own personal career goals in agriculture and related fields. To accomplish these goals, our teaching program is striving to help meet workplace needs by: developing new methods for delivering instruction; and improving disciplinary students' analytical inter-personal, leadership, communications, problem-solving, computational aptitude, and decision-making skills. In this project, UOG will offer a workstudy program to undergraduate students with hands-on training and extension experiences to increase the number of qualified graduates ready for entering the workforce within the food, agriculture and natural sciences areas. The proposed project will train students by establishing a field-based experiential learning program with utilization of the existing UOG Triton demonstration farm. Five objectives of the proposed project are: (1) Increase in student's knowledge and skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture; (2) Increase in opportunities for students and public to gain knowledge of sustainable agriculture by attending workshops; (3) Develop student's leadership skills, service learning, and oral communication skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture; (4) Develop student's written communication skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture; (5) Increase the number of deliverables for agriculture education and extension program. Proposed project addresses Educational Need Areas (ENA): (a). Curricular Design, Materials Development, Library Resources; (e). Student Experiential Learning; and (f). Student recruitment, retention, and education equity. For ENA (a), the manual and handouts created in the proposed project will be used as instructional materials to learn about sustainable agriculture as a farm tour guide or in classroom. For ENA (e) the proposed project offers the farm-based workstudy practicum and experiential learning by interaction of trainees with faculty to produce extension materials. The proposed project will also addresses ENA (f) student recruitment and retention by providing students job opportunities as financial supports.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
903	7410	1060	50%
903	7410	3020	50%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
7410 - General technology;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 3020 - Education;

Keywords

workstudy program

sustainable agriculture

Goals / Objectives
The goal of the project aligns with the Resident Instruction Goals that are: (1) to improve agricultural sciences/instruction to ensure a competent and qualified workforce to serve the food and agricultural sciences system and meet current and future national food and agriculture science needs; (2) to improve the economic health and viability of rural communities through the development of degree programs emphasizing new and emerging employment opportunities in agriscience and agribusiness; and (3) to increase the number and diversity of students in the food and agriculture, natural resources and human sciences.The proposed project has five objectives:Increase in student's knowledge and skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture;Increase in opportunities for students and public to gain knowledge of sustainable agriculture by attending workshops;Develop student's leadership skills, service learning, and oral communication skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture;Develop student's written communication skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture;Increase the number of deliverables for agriculture education and extension program.

Project Methods
Objective 1: The workstudy program will be initiated at the UOG Triton Farm. One part-time Research Associate (RA) with BS degree in Agriculture and four students will be recruited. RA and PDs will create an outline and schedule of farm operation and farm tours by trainees. PDs will have a bi-weekly meeting with trainees and RA to coordinate events and routine work at the farm. PDs will review trainee's academic records at mid-semester and the end of semester to make sure the trainees are keeping balance of time allocation for studying for regular course works and for experiential learning training at the farm. All events and activities will be recorded as reports or portfolio for review.Objective 2: Dr. Ranovich will conduct workshops on sustainable agriculture to students and the community. Workshops will be offered during the first year of the proposed project since all information at the workshops could be incorporated in the workstudy program, development of educational materials.Objective 3: PDs and RA will provide trainees a basic guideline on how to conduct farm tours to K-12. RA will arrange K-12 school field trip by communicating teachers and coordinators of each school prior to the trip to the Triton Farm. Trainees will guide K-12 students in a farm tour featuring aquaponics, horticultural crop production and animal production area. When brochures become available, trainees will use the brochures as farm tour guide and educational materials to teach K-12. At each farm tour, the age and the number of visitors will be recorded and a survey will be conducted to determine visitor's satisfaction of the tour.Objective 4: The project creates brochures and a farm management manual of the Triton Farm. During the first three meetings, the PDs and RA will discuss with trainees the topics of brochures and educational materials appropriate for K-12. After drafts will be completed, we will contract an expert for editorial and layout work to complete the brochures. For the Farm Manual, we will begin with creation of the general outline. For Year 1, we plan to complete at least three brochures by trainees and the "aquaponics" part of the manual. During Year 2, we plan to complete "egg production" and "horticulture crop production" sections.Objective 5: The proposed project will produce four types of deliverables for agriculture and extension program.1. BrochuresWe will create brochures for K-12 students focusing on produces and farming practices being employed in the Triton Farm.2. Farm Operation ManualThe manual will have three parts: 1) aquaponics system; 2) horticulture production; and 3) egg production. The compiling of different sections of the guide and completion of the manual will be conducted in the second year of the project. A draft will be reviewed and final version of manual will be distributed to agriculture students, farmers/growers and the general public.3. Farm tours Farm tours will be conducted to educate K-12 about agriculture with emphasis of their interests in basic biology, chemistry, natural resources conservation, agricultural engineering, cultural studies, and economic aspects of the tropical farming. School teachers and coordinators will be contacted to schedule the farm tours by school children.4. WorkshopsWe will offer workshops on sustainable agriculture by agricultural professionals of University of Hawaii and University of Guam. The workshops will educate students, growers/farmers, agriculturists, and the public.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:1. Undergraduate students in the agricultural science degree program at the University of Guam. 2. K-12 students in Guam 3. Island community members who are interested in sustainable agriculture Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training of farm operation and farm tour guides were provided to student trainees as part of their work experience. We offered three workshops and training sessions to students, farm crew and the public community. Students participated in the production of a poster and farm map How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project focused on an outreach program of sustainable agriculture by opening the farm and sharing information about farm operation with the local community. Student gains of knowledge and experience were also shared with communities by conducting a farm tour and presentation at a local conference as well as production of a poster and a farm map. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: Increase in student's knowledge and skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture Student trainees were recruited as Research Assistant I to participate in farm operation of the University of Guam demonstration farm (Triton Farm) as part-time employees. Student trainees collected farm data such as daily egg production, monthly water usage at the farm, and the weight and dollar values of agricultural products sold from the farm. Student trainees also engaged in making compost using food waste and use of compost for crop production. Objective 2: Increase in opportunities for students and public to gain knowledge of sustainable agriculture by attending workshops We offered three workshops and training sessions to students, farm crew, and the public community. 1. Dr. Theodore Radovich, Joe Tuquero, Jess Bamba offered the workshop on "Sustainable Agriculture" on October 14, 2017 to students and the public community (37 participants). Topics included (a) cover crops, (b) compost and compost tea, and (c) agritainment. 2. Joseph Tuquero offered "the Basic Chainsaw Safety Training Session" to students and farm crew on October 24, 2017 (7 participants) with the topics of (a) chainsaw safety, (b) felling trees, (c) limbing trees, (d) bucking trees, (e) personal protective equipment, (f) understanding chainsaw kickback, and (g) ensuring safe surrounding area for felling trees and safety outlets. 3. Joseph Tuquero offered "the Basic Tree Pruning Training Session" to students and farm crew on October 24, 2017. (7 participants) with the topics of (a) types of pruning tools, (b) proper pruning methods, (c) crown thinning, (d) structural pruning, and (e) crown cleaning. Objective 3: Develop student's leadership skills, service learning, and oral communication skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture. 1. Research Associate and student trainees conducted farm tours to visitors including school children at UOG Triton Farm. 2. Student Trainee, Daryll 'Jason' Keller, presented at the 9th University of Guam Regional Conference on Island Sustainability on "Potential influence of housing style and seasonality on egg production" on March 27-29. His study compared four different chicken housing styles for layers with different environmental conditions and pasture conditions. Objective 4: Develop student's written communication skills of farm management and sustainable agriculture Originally the Farm Management Manual was produced by students. However, only the outline of the manual was created during the timeframe and is currently in progress. The drafted outline of lettuce production management scheme for the aquaponics system included three sections (1) lettuce production, (2) fish culture, and (3) maintenance of aquaponics structures. A poster "Grow Fresh, Grow Green: Growing Vegetables on Guam" and a map of "Triton Farm" was created for elementary school students (K-5th grade) visiting the farm. Objective 5: Increase the number of deliverables for agriculture education and extension program 1. "Farm Tours" was conducted by a Research Associate and Research Assistants (student trainees) at UOG Triton Farm as school field trips. These events were coordinated by teachers and the Research Associate. 2. A poster was presented by students at the 2017 University of Guam Island Sustainability Conference on April 17-21, 2017. The title of the poster was "Grow Fresh, Grow Green: Growing Vegetables on Guam." 3. A large display of "Aquaponics system" at the site was produced by the aquaponics system of the Triton Farm. 4. "Farm Map" for K-5th grade was created by a student.

Publications

Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18

Outputs
Target Audience:1. Current undergraduate students in the agricultural science degree program. 2. K-12 students 3. Island community who are interested in sustainable agriculture Changes/Problems:No-cost extension period from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019 will be used for completion of unfinished activities including creation of deliverables including extension factsheets and techinical research reports related to sustainable farm operation and evaluation of the project by an external evaluator. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Trainings for the farm operation and farm tour guide instruction were provided to student trainees as a part of their work experience How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project focused on an outreach program of sustainable agriculture by opening the farm and information on farm operation to local community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The proposed new termination date with no-cost extension request is 8/31/2019. Additional one year will be used for continuation and completion of unfinished activities including creation of deliverables related to sustainable farm operation and evaluation of the project by an external evaluator. PI will instruct students how to make factsheets and how to create farm operation guides.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: Student trainees were recruited as Research Assistant I to assist and learn about integrated farm operations. Student trainees collected farm data such as daily egg production, vegetable harvest data, monthly water usage at the farm, and the weight and dollar values of agricultural products sold from the farm. They engaged in making compost using food waste and use of compost for crop production. Objective 2: We offered three workshops and training sessions to students, farm crew and the public community 1. Dr. Theodore Radovich, Joe Tuquero, Jess Bamba offered the workshop on Sustainable Agriculture on October 14, 2017 to students and the public community (37 participants). Topics that were discussed included (a) cover crops, (b) compost and compost tea, and (c) agritainment. 2. Joe Tuquero offered the Basic Chainsaw Safety Training Session to students and farm crew on October 24, 2017 (7 participants) with the topics of (a) chainsaw safety, (b) felling trees, (c) limbing trees, (d) bucking trees, (e) personal protective equipment, (f) understanding chainsaw kickback, and (g) ensuring surrounding area is safe for felling trees and safety outlets. 3.Joe Tuquero offered the Basic Tree Pruning Training Session to students and farm crew on October 24, 2017. (7 participants) with the topics of (a) types of pruning tools, (b) proper pruning methods, (c) crown thinning, (d) structural pruning, and (e) crown cleaning. Objective 3: Research Associate and student trainees conducted farm tours to visitors including school children at UOG Triton Farm. Student Trainee, Daryll 'Jason' Keller, presented at the 9th University of Guam Regional Conference on Island Sustainability on "Potential influence of housing style and seasonality on egg production" on March 27-29. His study compared four different chicken housing styles for layers with different environmental conditions and pasture conditions. The egg production data were summarized. Objective 4: PIs are educating students to learn how to create factsheets on farm management systems. Objective 5:A proposed deliverable, "Farm tours" was conducted by a Research Associate and Research Assistants (student trainees) at UOG Triton Farm as school field trips. These events were coordinated by teachers and the Research Associate. The 3'x 4' aluminum sign of "Aquaponics system" was created to show the water re-circulating system and symbiotic relationship of fish and plants to visitors. New Triton Farm brochure was also created. Other brochures (factsheets) and Farm operation manuals are being created and in progress.

Publications

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:1. Current undergraduate students in the agricultural science degree program. 2. K-12 students 3. Island community who are interested in sustainable agriculture Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training of farm operation and farm tour guide were provided to student trainees as a part of their work experience How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project focused on an outreach program of sustainable agriculture by opening the farm and information on farm operation to local community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Offer a workshop on sustainable agriculture in October 2017. 2. Recruit new Research Assistant (Trainee) to learn farm operation and to conduct farm tours. 3. Continue working on creation of proposed brochures and farm operation manual.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Two issues in agriculture education in Guam are: (1) limited hand-on learning opportunities for college students, and (2) the needs of agricultural education materials, workshop opportunities, and farm tours for secondary school students in Guam. The project utilizes an existing University of Guam integrated farm system (UOG Triton Farm) as a place for out-of-classroom learning grounds of sustainable agriculture education. Objective 1: Student trainees were recruited as Research Assistants to assist in farm operation. Student trainees collected farm data such as daily egg production, monthly water usage at the farm, and the weight and dollar values of agricultural products sold from the farm. Objective 2: We are preparing a workshop of sustainable agriculture which will be offered in October 2017. Objective 3: Research Associate and Research Assistant (student trainees) offered farm tours to visitors. Objective 4: A section of "aquaponics system" of a farm management manual is being drafted. Objective 5: A proposed deliverable, "Farm tours" was conducted by a Research Associate and Research Assistants (student trainees) at UOG Triton Farm as school field trips. These events were coordinated by teachers and the Research Associate. Creation of brochures and Farm operation manuals are being created

Publications