Sustainable and Organic Production Techniques

Toward Sustainable Agriculture graphic

General Production Information

The UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Website contains hundreds of questions and answers to a great variety of topics. It includes access point for CTAHR's Publications Database, Knowledge Master (weeds, diseases, and pests), Pesticide Information Retrieval System (for commercial users of agricultural chemicals) and The Farmer's Bookshelf (production information about many fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, and home garden vegetables).

UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) has free and for sale publications with a wide range of information. Free publications include downloadable fact sheets on producing fruits and nuts, home garden vegetables, ornamentals and flowers, green manures and cover crops, insect pests, plant disease, weed control, and crop and soil management. For sale publications include production manuals for taro, coffee, tea, onions, corn, and lei plants.

Florida Cooperative Extension Electronic Information Data Source (EDIS) includes listings for agroforestry, aquaculture, citrus, field crops, forage, fruit (non-citrus) and nut crops, home garden crops, organic farming, vegetable crops, nursery crops, pesticides by crop, crops management, postharvest and handling.

ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is one of the single best sources of general information about sustainable and organic farming production methods. Topics include horticultural crops, field crops, soils and compost, pest management, organic farming, livestock, marketing and business, energy and agriculture, education, and other resources.

Organic Production Methods

Organic Agriculture at CTAHR: Website of the Organic Working Group for the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

Overview of Organic Food Crop Systems in Hawai‘i by T. Radovich, L. Cox, and J. Hollyer

Hawaii Organic Farmers Association (HOFA) has a newsletter, hosts workshops and field days, and provides certification services under the USDA’s National Organic Program. Hawaii Organic Farmers Association, PO Box 6863 Hilo, HI 96720, Phone: 808-969-7789 Fax: 808-969-7759, Toll Free: 1-877-ORG-ISLE (1-877-674-4753)

Hawaii Cooperative of Organic Farmers (HICOF): PO Box 728, Waialua, HI 96791. Telephone: (808) 637-4555, email: info@hicof.org

Click here to join the Hawaii Organic Farming Discussion List, a brand new list intended to facilitate discussion among those interested in Organic/Ecological agriculture in Hawaii.

Visit ATTRA Organic Farming, for introductory information on all aspects of organic production. This website has downloadable publications for organic fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, field crops, livestock, pest control, fertilizers, marketing, regulation and certification. For a list of their organic publications, view Guide to ATTRA's Organic Publications (downloadable Adobe Acrobat file).

The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) specializes in the review of substances for use in organic production, processing, and handling.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation is a non-profit whose mission is to sponsor research related to organic farming practices, to disseminate research results to organic farmers and to growers interested in adopting organic production systems, and to educate the public and decision-makers about organic farming issues.

The USDA National Organic Program website contains extensive information about organic production for both producers and consumers, including regulation and certification updates, Q&A and press releases.

Transitioning to Organic Production: USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) 32 page publication (downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF) features farmer profiles to explain how conventional farmers can move into organic production methods.

Factsheets from UC Davis

Resource guide for organic insect and disease management (Cornell University)

Biologically intensive and organic agriculture (Washington State University)

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements is an international organization for organic agriculture. The website offers the IFOAM Training Manual for Organic Agriculture in the Tropics. Although designed for agricultural educators, the content gives an excellent introduction to organic production in tropical regions.

Organic Fruits and Vegetables from the Tropics (large pdf file) This UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) publication is an excellent reference for tropical organic fruit and vegetable production.

Online information service for non-chemical pest management in the Tropics

Organic Agriculture at FAO

Soil Health and Fertility

The soil resource is one of the farm’s most valuable assets. The websites below will help you identify your farm’s soils and to understand how to manage them for long term crop productivity with excellent water quality.

Soils of Hawai'i

Phosphorus Fertilizer Management for Romaine Lettuce Grown in Fertile Volcanic Ash Soils of Hawai‘i

Phosphorus Fertilizer Management for Head Cabbage

Nitrogen Mineralization Potential in Important Agricultural Soils of Hawai‘i

Testing Your Soil: Why and How to Take a Soil-Test Sample

Soil Central: CTAHR webpage with info on soils of Hawaii, soil fertility and chemistry information, soil testing, and other useful links.

Soil Nutrient Management for Maui County: CTAHR extension information which includes information on soil basics, Soils of Maui, nutrient management and references.

Plant Nutrient Management in Hawaii's Soils. This CTAHR on-line publication contains practical research information on soils, fertilizers, and crop nutrient needs, written for the lay reader for Hawaii’s crops and soil conditions. Also available in hardcopy ($14).

Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center: CTAHR’s ADSC lab conducts plant disease analyses, feed and forage analyses, insect identification analyses, chemical analyses of soils, chemical analyses of plant tissue, and chemical analyses of water and nutrient solutions.

Composts as as Soil Amendment: Dr. Nguyen Hue, TPSS UH-CTAHR

Organic Fertilizers in Sustainable Agriculture: Dr. Nguyen Hue, TPSS UH-CTAHR

Building Soils for Better Crops from Sustainable Agriculture Publications ($19.95, ordering information). Practical introductory book on managing soils for crop production to reduce disease, increase fertility and keep high levels of production. Topics covered include: increasing soil organic matter, using appropriate tillage, incorporating animal manures, making and using composts, integrating cover crops into rotations, reducing erosion, and methods to avoid and decrease soil compaction. Available on-line as downloadable .pdf file.

Soil Quality Information Sheets: Introductory materials about the following soil topics: soil quality introduction, erosion, sediment deposition on cropland, compaction, salinization, soil biodiversity, available water capacity, pesticides, hydrophobicity, indicators for soil quality evaluation, pastureland soil quality, etc.

NRCS Soil Quality Institute Soil Biology Primer is an introduction to the living component of soil and how it contributes to agricultural productivity, and air and water quality. The Primer includes units describing the soil food web and its relationship to soil health, and units about bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms.

ATTRA Soils and Compost: A list of downloadable publications on how to assess, improve and maintain soil health for both croplands and pastures. Several publications address fertilization and composting specifically for organic production.

Vegetable Crops

Organic Fruits and Vegetables from the Tropics (large pdf file): UNCTAD reference for tropical organic vegetable production.

Sustainable Practices for Vegetable Production in the South by Dr. Mary Peet, North Carolina State University, is an on-line manual with sections on sustainable production techniques (cover crops and living mulches, soil managment, conservation tillage), integrated pest management, and several vegetable crop profiles.

Veggie-e-gram Newsletter: CTAHR’s Dr. Hector Valenzuela (hector@hawaii.edu) offers an electronic vegetable production newsletter. Back issues are available at the Vegetable Crops Extension Website.

The World Vegetable Center sponsored by the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) has excellent resources and on-line tutorial programs for many vegetable crops.

Knotts Handbook for Vegetable Growers by Donald N. Maynard and George J. Hochmuth, John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. 1996. 582 pp.

Sustainable Vegetable Production From Start-Up to Market by Vernon P. Grubinger, Natural Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Service (NRAES). 1999. 267 pp.

Ecology Action GROW BIOINTENSIVE Food Raising Method

How to Grow More Vegetables: Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops by John Jeavons, Ten Speed Press. 1995. 201 pp.

Taro: Mauka to Makai, CTAHR. This revised and expanded, full-color second edition is a best-practices manual on taro production for both flooded and non-flooded conditions. It includes glossaries of Hawaiian taro terms, some classic Hawaii taro photos, taro recipes, and strategies for limiting the effects of weeds, insect and other pests, plant diseases, and soil nutrition problems.

Small-Scale Lettuce Production with Hydroponics or Aquaponics by H. Ako and A. Baker

Tropical Fruits

Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers

HawaiiFruit Channel at YouTube

Growing Bananas: Four-part video series by Dr. Scot Nelson, CTAHR Extension Specialist for Plant Disease.

Tropical Fruit Growers of South Florida, Inc.

Tropical Fruits by H. Y. Nakasone and R.E. Paull, CABI Publishing, 1998. 464 pp.

University of Florida Fruitscapes provides basic information on temperate, subtropical, and tropical fruit crops.

Florida Cooperative Extension Electronic Information Data Source (EDIS): Tropical Fruit

Development of a Sustainable Polyculture Production and Marketing System for Exotic Tropical Fruits (WSARE Project). Note: Mysore raspberry is a noxious weed in the State of Hawaii, illegal to plant on most Hawaiian islands.

Organic Fruits and Vegetables from the Tropics (large pdf file): UNCTAD reference for organic fruit production.

Herbs

Growing and Selling Fresh Cut Herbs

Field Crops

Corn Production in the Tropics: The Hawaii Experience by Jim Brewbaker, CTAHR. 74 pp.

Bulb Onion Production in Hawaii, CTAHR. 52 pp.

Native Hawaiian Plants

CTAHR free publications about growing ornamental plants, including several native plants

Native Hawaiian plants for landscaping, conservation, and reforestation by Heidi L. Bornhorst and Fred D. Rauch (pdf document)

Sherman Lab Courtyard Relandscaping Project and Guide to Sherman Courtyard Native Plant and Ecosystem Education Garden (pdf document)

Plants to Control Streambank Erosion by Lisa Ferentinos and Jody Smith

Riparian Plant Restoration, Management Tool for Restoration in Hawai‘i (Version 2.0), Bishop Museum

Hawaiian Native Plant Genera, University of Hawaii Dept. of Botany

Meet the Plants, National Tropical Botanical Garden

Native Plants for Water Conservation (presentation made by Amy Tsuneyoshi, Watershed Planner, Honolulu Board of Water Supply)

Plants for the Island of Maui: What and How to Plant in Your Area, Maui Dept. of Water Supply

Honolulu Board of Water Supply Plants for O'ahu website shows a comprehensive list of native plants suitable for 9 climate zones on O'ahu.

BOOKS

  • Bornhorst, Heidi. Growing Native Hawaiian Plants; A How-to Guide for the Gardener, The Best Press, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 1971. (introductory guide on growing native plants)
  • Culliney, John L. and Koebele, Bruce P., A Native Hawaiian Garden, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 1999. (more advanced guide to native plants and their propagation)
  • Growing Plants for Hawaiian Lei, CTAHR University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 2002. (guidebook to growing lei plants for home or commercially, including horticultural, cultural and business information). Click here for more information.
  • McDonald, Marie A., and Weissich, Paul R. Na Lei Makamae: The Treasured Lei, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 2003. (Book about pre-contact leis and the native and canoe plants used in them).
  • Kepler, A.K. 1998. Hawaiian Heritage Plants revised ed. UH Press, Honolulu.
  • Krauss, B. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture. UH Press. Honolulu.
  • Palmer, Daniel D. 2003. Hawai‘i’s Ferns and Fern Allies. UH Press, Honolulu
  • Sohmer, S.H., and R. Gustafson. 1987. Plants and Flowers of Hawai‘i. UH Press, Honolulu.
  • Valier, K. 1995. Ferns of Hawai‘i. UH Press. Honolulu.
  • Wagner, Warren L., Derral R. Herbst, S.H. Sohmer. 1990. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai‘i. UH Press. Honolulu.

Hawaiian plant listserve (hiplants-l@hawaii.edu): discussion of Hawaii's native plants. To subscribe, send mail to LISTSERV@HAWAII.EDU with the command SUBSCRIBE HIPLANTS-L.

Cover Crops

Cover Crop and Green Manure Database at CTAHR provides information about 25 plants which are suitable for tropical climates with downloadable plant descriptions.

Green Manure Crops that can help to control Nematodes in Dryland Taro (video) by Dr. Susan Miyasaka, Alton Arakaki, Dr. Brent Sipes, and Dr. Ray Min.

Accelerating the Adoption and Implementation of Proven Cover Crop Technologies in Hawaii (.pdf file) by Dr. John McHugh, CropCare Hawaii.

Use of Filter Strips for Improved Surface Water Quality. Sunnhemp and common oats planted as vegetative filters can effectively reduce sediment and nutrient loads coming from idle and fallow fields in Hawai‘i.

Managing Cover Crops Profitably: USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) book which explains cover crop characteristics and management, soil fertility, crop rotations, pest management and cover crop selection, plus gives information about introducing cover crops into any farming operation. Although written for the continental United States, it gives an excellent introduction on this important sustainable agriculture technique. An online pdf version of the book is available online and the second edition can be purchased (book $19, or CD-ROM $10).

Plant Information Databases

Pest Control - GENERAL

IPM in Practice: Principles and Methods of Integrated Pest Management by Mary Louise Fling and Patricia Gouveia, University of California Davis, Oakland, CA. 2001.

'Naturalize' Your Farming System: A Whole-Farm Approach to Managing Pests" USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) informational bulleting about ecological principles for managing pests and how to apply those principles to real-life farm situations.

ATTRA: Pest Management: Search this website for basic information about sustainable and organic pest control methods.

Introduction to IPM, PowerPont presentations by UH IPM extension program.

Sustainable Pest Control for the Tropics: This CTAHR website includes some introductory materials about tropical pest control (in the form of powerpoint presentations).

Organic Pest Control for the Tropics, View the PowerPoint presentation by Bob Shaffer (Soilculture@aol.com), Trustee, Hawaii Organic Farmers Association (HOFA) for an introduction.

Insect Control

Varroa Mite Research at the University of Hawaii

WANTED ALIVE: Identifying and Conserving Natural Enemies of Crop Pests in Hawai’i and other factsheets about beneficial insects.

Sustainable Insect Control for the Tropics, View the PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Mark Wright (markwrig@hawaii.edu), Entomologist, University of Hawaii at Manoa, IPM 101 for the Tropics for an introduction.

Extension Entomology & UH-CTAHR Integrated Pest Management Program. Knowledge Master contains general information on pest hosts, distribution, damage, biology, and management. This website is helpful for pest identification. The management recommendations are for conventional agricultural practices and will most likely need modification for sustainable systems. Contact CTAHR experts directly for more information.

Crop Knowledge Master: Everything You Wanted to Know about Agricultural Pests. This website is helpful for pest identification. Provides information on Hawaii pests sorted by crop, pest type (insects and other pests, plant disease pathogens), scientific name, and photos

Evaluating spiders for their potential to control cabbagewhite butterflies (Pieris rapae) by Cerruti Hooks, Raju Pandey, Marshall Johnson

Unlikely guardians of cropping systems: Can birds and spiders protect broccoli from caterpillar pests? by Cerruti Hooks, Raju Pandey, Marshall Johnson

Using clovers as living mulches to boost yields, suppress pests, and augment spiders in a broccoli agroecosystem by Cerruti Hooks, Raju Pandey, Marshall Johnson

Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center: CTAHR lab which offers insect identification services.

Plant Disease

The Plant Doctor: Information and online diagnosis for plant pathogens and diseases in Hawaii and the tropics. Plant-doctor.net is an interactive and comprehensive site to find an array of information about plant diseases in Hawaii and the tropics. The free materials include Cooperative Extension Service publications, research publications, news articles, videos, image galleries, PowerPoint presentations, a searchable database, forums, chat, and more. Users may join the site and post their own materials for discussion and may sign up to receive newsletters.

The Hawaii Host-Pathogen database allows users to search for pathogens that have been found infecting agricultural and native plants in Hawaii, as diagnosed by the CTAHR Agriculture Diagnostic Service Center (Hilo).

Banana Bunchy Top in Hawaii: Four-part video series by Dr. Scot Nelson, CTAHR Extension Specialist for Plant Disease, and Jari Sugano, CES Extension Agent.

UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) has free and for sale publications on plant diseases.

Sustainable Plant Disease Control for the Tropics, View the PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Janice Uchida (juchida@hawaii.edu), Plant Pathologist, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Sustainable Plant Disease Control 101 for an introduction.

Using protector plants to guard crops from aphid-borne non-persistent viruses by Cerruti Hooks, Alberto Fereres, Koon-Hui Wang

Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center: CTAHR lab which conducts plant disease analyses.

Sustainable Management of Soil-Borne Plant Diseases, ATTRA factsheet.

Nematodes

Plant Parasitic Nematodes and their Management by Donald P. Schmitt and Brent S. Sipes, free downloadble factsheet by CTAHR.

Sustainable Nematode Control for the Tropics, View the PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Brent Sipes (sipes@hawaii.edu), Nematologist, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Sustainable Nematode Control 101 for an introduction.

Protecting crops from nematode pests: Using marigold as an alternative to chemical nematicides by Koon-Hui Wang, Cerruti Hooks, Antoon Ploeg

An Ally in the War Against Nematode Pests: Using Sunn Hemp as a Cover Crop to Suppress Root-Knot Nematodes by Cerruti Hooks, Koon-Hui Wang, and Declan Fallon

Green Manure Crops that can help to control Nematodes in Dryland Taro (video) by Dr. Susan Miyasaka, Alton Arakaki, Dr. Brent Sipes, and Dr. Ray Min.

Weed Control

Weed Management in Hawaii for agriculture and conservation: CTAHR website with information on weed control for homeowners, farmers, ranchers and conservation land managers.

Weeds of Hawai'i's Pastures and Natural Areas (order form): An identification and management guide ($20, ordering information). Invasive, alien plants are “uninvited guests” in most of Hawaii’s ecosystems. Native forests are invaded, and their precious native plant species are choked out. Extensive areas of pasture land have been colonized by plants that cannot be grazed. Weeds can be a fire hazard, and they can be painful impediments to access to natural areas. This book describes over 150 plants that are considered weeds in Hawai’i in most circumstances. On-line downloadable .pdfs available at: Weeds of Hawaii

Weed Science Hawaiian Style with Dr. Joe DeFrank

Steel in the Field: A Farmers Guide to Weed Management Tools (online .pdf and hardcopy publication) USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) book give practical advice on tools and techniques to control weeds while reducing or eliminating herbicides.

Pesticides and Pesticide Safety

CTAHR’S Extension Pesticide Program is CTAHR’s clearinghouse for pesticide use information.

Look here for information about the Pesticide Risk Reduction Education Program (farmer training program for safe use of pesticides, includes excellent comprehensive on-line training materials) and the Hawaii Pesticide Information Retrieval System HPIRS (database with information on pesticides currently licensed for distribution and sale in Hawaii).

WSARE logo

These webpages were originally generated under a grant program from Western SARE entitled "New Farmers: Choosing the Road Less Traveled" EW03-002 (2004-2006). Toward Sustainable Agriculture (downloadable .pdf)