Resources and Links
- Soil Health and Fertility
- Composting
- Pest Control
- Food Safety
- Biotechnology
- Virtual Field Days (videos)
- Organizations
- Organic Cerfication Services
- Funding
- Marketing
- General Information on Organic Farming (mainland & international)
Hawaii-specific Information on Organic Farming
Overview of Organic Food Crop Systems in Hawai‘i (Nov 2009, .pdf): Prior to 2007, the specific challenges faced by organic producers in Hawai‘i were unknown. In that year, UH-CTAHR initiated an analysis of organic agricultural systems, in partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) and The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation (HFBF), to determine the issues faced by this group and the actions required to address critical issues. This publication describes this effort, gives a summary of the results, and includes a discussion of the implications suggested by the analysis.
Soil Health and Fertility
- Response of Corn and Bean Seedlings to Preplant Application of Bone Meal
- Soils of Hawai'i
- Biological nitrogen fixation: nature’s partnership for sustainable agricultural production
- Mycorrhizal fungi and plant nutrition
- Organic soil amendments for sustainable agriculture: organic sources of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
- Cover Crop and Green Manure Database
- Advice on obtaining seeds for green manure and cover crops in Hawaii
- Impact of organic inputs on taro production and returns
- Manual on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus production and inoculation techniques
- Nitrogen mineralization potential in important agricultural soils of Hawaii
- Organic farming in Hawaii (special issue of Vegetable Crops Update newsletter)
- Testing for soil nitrogen and phosphorus for environmental pollution monitoring
- Testing your soil--why and how to take a soil-test sample
Composting
- Composted animal manures: precautions and processing
- Composted swine manure for vegetable crop application
- Backyard composting, recycling a natural product
- Composting worms for Hawaii
- Small-scale vermicomposting
Pest Control
BENEFICIAL INSECT FLASH CARDS (set of downloadable flash cards, jpg files). AVAILABLE April 2015: Beneficial Insect Flashcard sets can be purchased for $10 from your local Master Gardener Office. Click HERE to find the one nearest to you.
- WANTED ALIVE: Identifying and Conserving Natural Enemies of Crop Pests in Hawai’i
- Braconid Wasps
- Encrytid Wasps
- Hover Flies
- Ichneumonid Wasps
- Lacewings
- Lady Beetles
- Minute Pirate Bugs
- Predatory Mites
- Pteromalid Wasps
- Trichogramma Wasps
- Biological Control Flash Cards: References and Acknowledgements
COVER CROPS, GREEN MANURES, LIVING MULCHES for PEST CONTROL
- Using clovers as living mulches to boost yields, suppress pests, and augment spiders in a broccoli agroecosystem
- An ally in the war against nematode pests: Using sunn hemp as a cover crop to suppress root-knot nematodes
- Protecting crops from nematode pests: Using marigold as an alternative to chemical nematicides
- Green Manure Crops that can help to control Nematodes in Dryland Taro (video)
GENERAL
- Crop Knowledge Master
- Calibrating your sprayer
- Collecting plant disease and insect pest samples for problem diagnosis
Food safety
Biotechnology
- Attitudes of Hawaii consumers toward genetically modified fruit
- Is organic papaya production in Hawaii threatened by cross-pollination with genetically engineered varieties?
- Agricultural biotechnology in Hawaii
- Crop improvement by conventional breeding or genetic engineering: How different are they?
- Results from a Hawaii opinion survey on genetically modified organisms
- Use of biotechnology in agriculture--benefits and risks
Virtual Field Days (on-line videos)
HISustainAg channel
on YouTube
Producing Organic Papaya Seed: Dr. Ted Radovich, Extension Specialist at CTAHR's Sustainable and Organic Farming Systems Laboratory, outlines how to screen papaya plants to determine which have not been genetically engineered, how to bag flowers to exclude pollen from other trees, and how to process seed. [8:45 min]
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.
Growing Bananas: Four-part video series by Dr. Scot Nelson, CTAHR Extension Specialist for Plant Disease.
Evaluating Native Hawaiian Groundcovers: Dr. James Leary, Invasive Weed Scientist with CTAHR, initiates a project to evaluate the effectiveness of Hawaiian plants as ground covers for an organic farming system at MA'O Farms.
Sunn hemp for Soil Health and Nematode Management: Dr. Koon-Hui Wang explains how sunn hemp cover crops can control nematodes and improve soil fertility in Hawai'i. [7:44 min]
Vermicompost in Hawai'i: It's Production and Use: Dr. Ted Radovich, Extension Specialist at CTAHR's Sustainable and Organic Farming Systems Laboratory, outlines how to set up a successful small scale vermicomposting system. [6:47 min]
Organizations
Hawaii Organic Farmers Association is a non-profit organization that provides education about organic certification and sustainability in Hawaii. Located at 474 Kalanikoa St #203, Hilo, HI 96720; phone (808) 969-7780, email hofa@hawaiiorganicfarmers.org or visit the website for more information.
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.
Cerfication Services
The USDA National Organic Program oversees certification services nationally. Some providers used in Hawa 'i include:
- CCOF: http://www.ccof.org/
- International Certification Services: http://www.ics-intl.com/
- Organic Certiers Inc.: http://www.organiccertifiers.com/
- Oregon Tilth: http://tilth.org/
This list is not comprehensive and does not constitute an endorsement of any certification service.
Funding
Cost Sharing for Organic Certification: Hawaii DOA grant program. Contact HDOA's Market Development Branch at (808) 973-9595.
Marketing Organic Products
Grower-Retailer Interface: On 03/09/09, UH-CTAHR hosted a meeting to improve communication and linkages between local growers and retailers (Whole Foods and Kokua Market). Notes from the meeting and handouts are available.
The Market for Hawaii-Grown Natural and Organic Beef
The USDA Economic Research Service has a briefing website on organic farming and marketing with an overview of organic production in the US, updated statistics on the growth of this sector of agriculture and valuable links.
General Information on Organic Farming (mainland and international)
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 (PDF).
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.
Transitioning to
Organic Production: USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Network
(SAN) 32 page publication ( PDF) features farmer profiles to explain how conventional farmers can move into organic production methods.
UC Davis
- Insect Pest Management for Organic Crops, UC Davis
- Plant Disease Management for Organic Crops, UC Davis
- Postharvest Handling for Organic Crops, UC Davis
- Soil Fertility Management for Organic Crops, UC Davis
- Soil Management and Soil Quality for Organic Crops, UC Davis
- Weed Management for Organic Crops, UC Davis
Resource guide for organic insect and disease management (Cornell University)
Biologically intensive and organic agriculture (Washington State University)
Online information service for non-chemical pest management in the Tropics