April 2012
CAFNRM/Agriculture
Club Newsletter
Issue 1
New club on campus: SEEDS Hilo
Inside this issue:
By Leinā‘ala Hall
Acting Dean’s corner
2
AgClub upcoming events
3
Faculty of the month:
Dr. Cleveland
3
Korean natural farming
book review
4
Crop of the month: Invasive blackberry
5
Oz update:
Dryland salinity
5
Calendar of events
CAFNRM
A g r i C U LT U R E C l u b
Newsletter
Publisher:
Norman Arancon
Editor:
Kim Kido
Cont r ib ut or s:
Leinā‘ala Hall
S e e se e i T oa
Chris Wong
T odd Y oshiok a
6
An exciting new club aims
to boost student involvement in local sustainability
and homegrown food initiatives. SEEDS Hilo aims to
unite students in all majors
in the name of sustainability
and effecting social change
starting in our own campus
and island-wide community.
SEEDS, “Strategies in Ecology, Education, Diversity,
and Sustainability”, is a nationwide program run by
the Ecological Society of
America (ESA). SEEDS
students from undergraduates to post-docs, and even
practicing professionals, are
part of a nationwide net-
A SEEDS student chapter, part of the Ecological Society of America, has been started by student Leina‘ala Hall.
work of individuals, programs and universities working together to integrate
ecology into countless areas,
including public policy and
(Please see “SEEDS”, page 6)
Senior Awards Banquet May 11
This semester’s Senior
Awards banquet will be held
May 11, 2012 at the UH
Hilo Farm Pavilion at 6:30
pm. All UH Hilo College of
Agriculture students are
welcome to attend. Tickets
are available for pick-up in
the CAFNRM office. Student awards for the highest
GPA of the graduating class
and a Service Award will be
announced at the banquet.
Last semester’s banquet featured great food and entertainment by some of our
College’s own faculty, and
was well attended by students, faculty, and staff.
Graduates at last semester’s banquet. Photo credit: Norman
Arancon.
Everyone had a great time
and wished the graduates
well.
This semester, the College
of Agriculture has 20 gradu(Please see “Banquet”, page 4)
C A F N R M / A g r i c u lt u r e C l u b N e w s l e t t e r
CAFNRM Acting Dean
Dr. Bruce Mathews
“We are presently
in the process of
fine tuning a
student exchange
and cooperation
agreement
between UH Hilo
and VSU...and a
potential
university
exchange
agreement
between Xavier
University...and
UH Hilo is also
being
developed.“
Issue
1
Page 2
Travel report: Philippines Delegation
During March 21st to April 2nd I was part of the County of Hawaii delegation to the southern
Philippines and our new sister city of Ormoc on the Island of Leyte where we spent most of our
time. We also spent several days on the Island of Cebu and I was the only member of the delegation to visit Cagayan de Oro City on the Island of Mindanao where I spent most of my academic
sabbatical in 2002. The primary objectives of the trip in addition to the Ormoc sister city signing
festivities and drafting potential university educational and research exchanges in the region were
to investigate recent advances in geothermal energy and tropical sustainable agriculture development. The Energy Development Corporation’s Leyte Geothermal Production Field Complex is
home to the world’s largest geothermal power plant and has recently transformed the regions energy picture with excess power exports to surrounding islands via undersea cables. I was impressed by the progress over the past decade in the southern Philippines with respect to infrastructure improvements, business growth, and investment. Some international economists predict
that with relatively good government, peace, and order, the Philippines will grow from the 49 th
strongest economy in the world to at least about the 17 th during the next two decades.
In the agricultural sector, the commitment to enhanced regional food security and more sustainable practices is readily apparent and a showcase for other tropical countries. Improved agronomic/horticultural practices and nutrient recycling are being widely implemented to reduce detrimental environmental impacts and the need for expensive external chemical inputs. I was particularly impressed that Ormoc City (Leyte) Mayor Eric Codilla has developed his own Agricultural
Extension Services Office that caters to the needs of home gardeners, facilitates greenhouse development for increased green-leaf vegetable production, and in particular, assists the small organic horticultural food crop farmers surrounding the city. The Ormoc City Agricultural Services
Office works in synergy with Visayas State University (VSU) Extension to promote regional agricultural production enhancement through a special laison officer, Dr. Samuel Go, a former UH
East-West Center scholar. A city soil and plant tissue testing lab is planned and much of the extension advice such as general fertilizer, lime, and compost recommendations are already provided in formats accessible to farmers via cell phone.
The visit to VSU was interesting as I previously visited the institution in 2002 and noted many
changes. Since 2002 the laboratory infrastructure and support staff have greatly improved for
plant tissue culture, genetics, and analytical capabilities for soil and plant diagnostic procedures.
Tissue culture activity is focused on the prized coconut mutant “Macapuno” which is respected
for its softer meat (endosperm tissue). The efforts in developing improved cultivars, agronomic
practices, and post-harvest handling and processing for coconut and root crops such as sweet
potato (kamote), taro (gabi), yam (ube), and cassava (binggla) are world class. Several interesting
reports were provided to me on drying the root crop vegetative and cull materials for supplemental livestock feed. Hawaii farmers and agricultural students could definitely benefit from the
VSU short courses on root crops and many of their volcanic-derived soil types are similar to ours
along the Hilo-Hamakua Coast. We are in the process of fine tuning a student exchange and cooperation agreement between UH Hilo and VSU. Our students could learn much from the work
ethic, quality of hands on training, and relative competitiveness at VSU. The VSU Carabao (water
buffalo) Center also shared carabao based dairy products and information on the relative production efficiency of these animals compared to cattle on low quality tropical forages such as
hilograss. Another major highlight of the Ormoc trip was the opportunity to meet with top Philippine Environmental Attorney and School of the Sea (Bantayan Island) founder, Tony Oposa,
who will be visiting UH campuses in Fall 2012 in part to discuss issues related to sea level rise and
the tropical Pacific islands. In addition to a host of ecological and fishery impacts, a major concern in the Philippines is the likely problem of increased salinity on coastal lowland paddy crops
such as rice. It has already been demonstrated that mangroves which have the “genes for salinity
tolerance”, could be used in the development of salinity tolerant crop varieties using transgenic
(Please see “Dean”, page 6)
C A F N R M / A g r i c u lt u r e C l u b N e w s l e t t e r
Issue
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Page 3
Upcoming AgClub
events
By Chris Wong
We have two upcoming events, not
counting senior awards night. First off,
Friday April 28 we have the Pacific
Biodiesel workday from 12pm to
4pm. We will be working mainly on the
front area, planting a couple of plants
but mostly moving soil and planting
grass seed. We will have a bobcat to
help move the soil, but we do need
tools like shovels, rakes and picks if we
can get them. Snacks and drinks
(water) will be provided. Secondly, we
need volunteers to help with Oh Hell
Week on the Tuesday, May 1. This will
run from 10 pm until 1 am. I know
that most of us will have class the next
day but please tell everyone you can to
come down and help out. It would be
greatly appreciated. This is the Ag Club
doing its part in the UH community
since UHHSA is funding half of the
Senior Awards night. Don’t forget to
pick up your Senior Awards banquet
tickets from the CAFNRM office.
Election of AgClub officers will be
held May 1 at the CAB breezeway at 2
pm. Please stop by to cast your vote!
Dr. Erik Cleveland. Photo credit: Norman
Arancon.
Dr. Cleveland takes his students on field trips to places like Hawaii’s Fresh Dairy (pictured) to learn
about livestock. Photo credit: Kim Kido.
Faculty of the month: Dr. Cleveland
By Seeseei Toa
Dr. Cleveland was born and grew up
on a family farm in the city of Alden
located in North Central Iowa along
the banks of the Iowa River. On their
290 acre farm, they grew crops such as
corn, soybeans, oats, and hay. Besides
crops they also had a breeding herd of
swine, flock of sheep, chickens and
ducks. His family also bought calves
from the West, like in Wyoming, and
grew them out in feedlots. Most farms
in Iowa were diversified. People used
to raise crops and livestock together
but now they’re more specialized. According to Cleveland, growing up in a
farm was not so easy. Back in his days,
everyone was involved in taking care
of the animals and cleaning out pens.
He grew up with one sister and two
brothers. They raised pigs, calves, and
lambs and showed their cuttings for
each which was why he got more interested with livestock. They had done
lots of work during summer time.
Sometimes they used to hire young
people to help. There weren’t a lot of
equipment. Many labor works had to
be done by hand. Back then there
weren’t a lot of farms, but today there
are large farms but few farmers.
Dr. Cleveland went to Ellsworth Community college for two years where he
received his Associates of Arts degree.
Then he transferred to Iowa State and
got his Bachelor of Science in Animal
Science. His instructor in one of his
classes encouraged him to apply to
graduate school. He took a swine production class and the instructor for
that class helped him choose a school
to apply to. His name was Lauren
Christian, a well-known swine geneticist. The Lauren Christian Research
and Demonstration Swine Farm was
named in honor of him. The farm is
an instruction site and research facility
where people can learn of modern and
sustainable pork production systems
in Iowa. Christian recommended he
apply to the University of Wisconsin,
North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State, and the University of Nebraska. North Carolina State didn’t
really offer any type of assistants. He
never heard from Wisconsin. Oklahoma State said they could give him an
assistantship. He ended up getting
offered an assistantship from the University of Nebraska and completed his
Master’s degree in Nebraska in Swine
Breeding and Genetics. He also received his PhD in Swine Breeding
from the University of Nebraska. He
(Please see “Cleveland”, page 4)
C A F N R M / A g r i c u lt u r e C l u b N e w s l e t t e r
Issue
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Page 4
Cleveland
(Continued from page 3)
Bill Mollison and Masanobu Fukuoka (right). Photo credit: Permaculture Planet (Flickr).
Book review: “The Natural Way of Farming”
By Todd Yoshioka
Masanobu Fukuoka was an early vocal
proponent of sustainable farming in an
age of increasingly mechanized and
large scale farming. He developed and
taught a method of what he called
“Do-Nothing” farming, where there is
little to no tilling, weeding, fertilizing,
or pesticide use. This book is largely
an exposition of his philosophy, rather
than an in depth manual of his methods. The emphasis is on why we
should move away from industrialized
farming more than how exactly we are
to do it. It is possible that his methods
are simple and self evident enough to
require few words, and thus only give
the impression of a lack of comprehensiveness.
He begins with presenting many of the
problems faced by modern day farmers, where land is more profitable to
build on than to farm, and the farming
profession increasingly devalued and
marginalized. He approaches it from
the history of his native Japan, tying in
how politics, diet and community are
linked with the way people farm.
Chapter two is an all out attack on
science. His view is that science and
nature are opposed, and that by trying
to break nature into parts and understand it through the lens of science,
people are led further away from the
truth. Interestingly, he was trained as a
microbiologist and only became disillusioned with science later in life.
He moves on to the theory and practice of what he labels “natural farming” - no tilling, weeding, fertilizing or
pest control. His thesis is that nature
should be left to its own devices as
much as possible, and that artificial
methods may lead to short term increase in yields, but over time deplete
resources and drain plant vigor.
From theory the book proceeds to the
applied aspects of his method. The
majority of attention is given to the
cultivation of rice and barley cropping.
There is a section on how to cultivate
an orchard, including discussion on
how trees should be pruned, if at all.
There is just a small section dedicated
to the production of vegetables.
The book finishes with how natural
farming ties into lifestyle and diet, emphasizing how everything is interrelated. Buddhist philosophy runs
throughout. It is an interesting read
from the standpoint of how farmers
fit into nature and the world. If philosophy interests you, and you’re curious
how it can relate to farming, then this
book may appeal to you.
felt fortunate to be able to do analyzed
data and other works on selection experiments in pigs. One of his advisors
that he worked with known as Roger
Johnson is now famous for developing the Nebraska high index line. After completion of his graduate programs, he took his first job at the University of Georgia as a Swine Extension Specialist for 6 years. He worked
with farmers in education programs
and also supervising. After that, he
applied for the teaching job at UH
Hilo. He wanted to get out and do
extension work and teaching. When
Dr. Cleveland arrived in Hilo,
CAFRNM didn’t have a pre-vet program; he and Mike Christiansen started it. He teaches mainly Animal Science courses such as Swine Production, Sheep and Goat Production, and
Cattle Production. He does not really
do well with horses.
He advises students, especially Animal
Science majors, that if you want to
become a veterinarian, “make studies
your priority”. They really need to
emphasize their studies because to get
in to veterinary school you need at
least a 3.5 GPA. Do well in classes,
especially Organic Chemistry and
Math.
Banquet
(Continued from page 1)
ating seniors. They are: Larry Bergner,
Mark Blumhardt, Pierre Bouret, Bethany Bushe, Marie Faatuala, Robert
Hamnlett, Mandy Horimoto, Don
Kobashigawa, Akiko Miwa, Mathew
Miyahara, Kauhani Paiwa, Crystal
Richardson, Laura Rieber, Reese Sako,
Jonathan Tanouye, Seeseei Toa, Christopher Wong, Fan Yang, and Kekoa
Yasuda.
Please come out to support this year’s
graduating seniors and enjoy great
food, entertainment and company.
C A F N R M / A g r i c u lt u r e C l u b N e w s l e t t e r
Issue
1
Page 5
Crop of the month: Invasive blackberry
By Seeseei Toa
Blackberry is a prickly, edible fruit in
the rose family of the genus Rubus. It
grows as a shrub or a trailing vine. The
fruit is dark purple; turns black and
shiny when ripen but red and hard
when immature. Blackberries are very
popular in the U.S. mainland and
abundant in eastern North America
and on the Pacific coast. There are
thorny and thornless blackberries of
different varieties such as black Butte,
Chickasaw, Choctaw and many others.
They’re easy to grow with a lifespan of
about 20 years or less. The flowers are
produced in late spring and early summer. You can pick them to eat fresh,
make sandwich jams and jellies or even
bake cobblers. I had my first blackberry cobbler in Missouri. The ones that
grew wild are much sweeter than the
tamed ones in the garden or greenhouse. They’re known to have a good
source of iron and vitamin C.
Although blackberries are edible and
good in the mainland, some of them
are not so good on the islands. I spent
my Spring Break through UH Hilo’s
Break Through Adventures (BTA)
program on Kaua‘i killing weeds and
While some blackberry species are highly invasive, there are also native blackberry species like
akala (Rubus Hawaiiensis), pictured. Photo credit: Conor Dupre-Neary (Flickr).
learning more of the native plants of
Hawaii especially those found only in
Kaua‘i. Blackberries were one of the
weeds we killed. Before Spring Break,
I was not aware of blackberries as
invasive or on the list of Hawaii’s
most invasive horticultural plants. I
had learned that they’re certainly a
problem in the Koke‘e area and the
Alaka‘i Swamp on Kaua‘i where a lot
of them are spreading. They are a danger to native Hawaiian plants that are
rare and some found only on Kaua‘i.
Their thorns hurt hikers. It’s interesting that in the mainland, I could make
a cobbler of blackberry and in Hawaii,
I have to kill them. Unfortunately,
ecosystems are not the same everywhere. I can appreciate the blackberry
on the mainland, but when it comes to
preserving plants in native forests on
an island, I rather enjoy killing blackberries that are threats to a fragile ecosystem.
Oz update: Dryland salinity
By Kim Kido
A major issue in Australia is dryland
salinity due to clearing of native vegetation on semi-arid lands for agricultural crop production. The clearing increases rainfall infiltration and inherently saline groundwater levels rise
substantially, bringing all of the sodium
salts within the root zone of vegetation
and rendering the land unproductive.
Reversing this process is a huge and
expensive undertaking, at best. We
recently sampled water from boreholes
in the Atherton Tablelands as part of
the Advanced Hydrology course,
where salinity is a major risk to the
region’s fertile agricultural lands. We
also learned how to identify the cause
A single tree remains on what used to be a thriving paddock. Photo credit: Alex Dawson (Flickr).
of salinity using different stable ion
isotopes like chlorine and bromine.
CAFNRM/AgriCULTURE Club Newsletter
This newsletter is to provide the UH Hilo College of Agriculture,
Forestry, and Natural Resource Management with a cohesive
awareness of news, events, ideas, and opportunities”
200 W. Kawili Street
Hilo, HI 96720
Phone: 808-933-0852
E-mail: [email protected]
SEEDS
(Continued from page 1)
the media.
Students can apply for field trip travel
grants once a semester, bringing students to areas in the U.S. where major
ecological research projects are carried out. There are also travel grants
to participate in ESAʻs Annual Meetings, held in a different U.S. city each
Fall. They are a great way to meet
coordinators and admission counselors at prestigious academic programs.
SEEDS also announces fellowships
and paid research positions. Any student with an interest in Ecology, regardless of major, is encouraged to
sign up with SEEDS Hilo.
As an Agroecology major and founder of SEEDS Hilo, I hope to team up
with the AG club in some of my projects, including gardening days with
local schools, loʻi work days in
Waipio Valley, and camping trips to
secluded parts of Hawaiʻi island. Most
of these activities will occur in Fall
2012. A kick-off event will be held
Calendar of events:
this semester, possibly a community
garden or farm work day in the Hilo
area. In Fall, we hope to hold offcampus activities regularly, as well as
club meetings and free screenings of
documentaries on SEEDS film nights.
On two SEEDS field trips in the Adirondacks of New York and Florida
Coastal Everglades, they focused on
agricultural practices by Native American tribes, which lend valuable methods to conservation efforts in key
ecosystems of the regions. Similar
projects in Hawaii might receive assistance through SEEDS and ESA.
The application for the SEEDS Fall
2012 field trip is open. SEEDS will
cover airfare, lodging, and meal expenses for a group of students to visit
the Cedar Creek Long Term Ecological Research site in East Bethel, MN.
This is open to all undergraduates
with a genuine interest in Ecology.
The deadline to apply is May 22,
2012. Students interested in applying
or participating with SEEDS Hilo
should email me at [email protected].
Dean
(Continued from page 2)
procedures but natural within-species
genetic variation also offers promise.
Cagayan de Oro City (Mindanao) has
made great strides to recover from
Typhoon Sandong. Most of the afflicted areas have been cleaned up, repairs
are ongoing, and the homeless shelter
areas were cleaner than expected. Also,
a potential university exchange agreement between Xavier University –
Ateneo de Cagayan (CAFNRM Asst.
Prof. Norman Arancon’s undergraduate alma mater) and UH Hilo is being
developed. A possibly strong concern
for Hawaii papaya farmers that arose
during my visit to Mindanao was that
the appearance and flavor of their
Solo papaya was comparable to Hawaii’s. Mindanao papaya farmers receive about half the retail price of the
fruit in Philippine supermarkets such
as SM and Gaisano. At 18 to 22 pesos per kilogram retail and 43 pesos
per $, their papaya farmers are receiving 0.10 to 0.12 USD per pound. This
may present serious challenges to
Hawaii’s ability to compete against
Philippine grown Solo papaya that is
present in the important East Asian
markets such as Japan.
AGClub meets every Tuesday at 2 pm at the
CAB Breezeway. AGClub events denoted
with an asterisk (*).
04/28: Pacific Biodiesel workday *
04/28: School garden tours and tast
ing with The Kohala Center
04/30: Market Day *
05/01: Oh Hell Week *
05/11: Seniors Awards Banquet *
05/31: NPFDA scholarship deadline
Volunteers needed
for lo‘i work
Pohaha I Ka Lani, from its inception,
has been dedicated to the perpetuation
of Hawaiian culture and the uplifting
of the Hawaiian spirit through action.
In the upcoming year, we will be focusing on the lo‘i system at the historic
village site of Napo‘opo‘o in Waipi‘o
Valley. Together, our work to restore
and revitalize these 22 lo‘i bridges the
wisdom of the past with the rising of
the future. We openly invite all groups
who would like to join us.
Work will include cultivation (planting,
harvesting, maintenance, variety identification, etc.), kuauna (terrace wall)
repairs, irrigation work, and lo‘i soil
work (improvement of fertility and
tilth). Groups gain working cultural
knowledge, mo‘olelo of Waipi‘o, and
more. Transportation support is available.
For group hosting, please contact us at
[email protected] or call Executive Director Kulia Tolentino at
(808) 937-4243. Or call Ag student
Aleysia Kaha to find out more at (808)
938-7359.