Waimanalo Field Day
The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) hosted a field day at its Waimanalo Experiment Station on September 26, 2009. Mr. Ray Uchida, Oahu County Administrator and Mr. Roger Corrales, Waimanalo Station Farm Manager were our hosts. The Field Day featured mostly faculty and staff from the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences (TPSS).
Dr. Jim Brewbaker of TPSS is our corn breeder and much of the field day acreage was devoted to sharing information about various sweet corn varieties. As part of the field day, taste tests of two varieties of sweet corn was done.
But the field day wasn't limited to sweet corn. Displays were shown from the Biotechnology Outreach Program and Dr. Ania Wieczorek and by Dr. H.C. "Skip" Bittenbender on the converting cacao into chocolate.
Taro or Kalo, one of Hawaii's most culturally important crops is also grown on the Waimanalo Experiment Station. The station serves as a germplasm repository, growing most of the Hawaiian and other varieties of taro. CTAHR views maintenance of these crops as critically important to its mission. Not only could visitors see the taro but also an informational display on taro corms, by extension educator, Jari Sugano, of the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PEPS), was presented.
In keeping with the theme of sustainable agriculture, organic eggplant field trial demonstrations, under the direction of Dr. Ted Radovich of TPSS were displayed. The CTAHR Student SOFT Garden also displayed their organic garden to visitors. SOFT is an acronym for "Sustainable and Organic Farm Training." Read the SOFT Blog.
