Cover Crops & Green Manures

Cover Crop and Green Manure Database at CTAHR provides information about 25 plants which are suitable as cover crops and/or green manuers in tropical climates. This includes downloadable plant descriptions, plus updated links to related articles and research for Hawaii and the Pacific. A few examples are listed below:

 

 

Cover crops have a myriad of potential benefits for any agricultural system, including: improved soil structure and microfauna populations, weed suppression, promotion of habitat for beneficial insects, reduced nutrient leaching, and increased trafficability between rows. Click on each species below for additional information.

Green manures are frequently used in vegetable crop production. They are incorporated or plowed into the soil to add organic matter and nutrients for the cash crops. Green manures can also be managed to disrupt plant disease cycles or to suppress nematodes. In general, they grow very quickly, are herbaceous, decompose rapidly, and release nutrients quickly. Click on each species below for additional information.

Legumes Perennial Peanut Stylo White Clover Non-Legumes Bahia grass Bermuda grass Broadleaf Carpet Grass Narrowleaf Carpet Grass Pangola (or Digit) Grass Tropic Lalo Rhodes Grass St. Augustine Grass Stargrass

Legumes Cowpea Lablab Pigeonpea 'Tropic Sun' sunn hemp Woollypod Vetch (Lana Vetch) White Sweetclover Non-Legumes Annual Ryegrass Azolla Barley Buckwheat Oats, black Oats, common Rye Grain (Cereal Rye) 'Sudex' sorghum-sudangrass hybrid

 Additional information about green manures and cover crops

• Cover Crop Chart for Hawaii (K.-H. Wang, 2015)
• Performance and plant-available nitrogen contribution of cover crops in high elevations in Hawai‘i (2014)
• Cover Your Asset: Choosing appropriate cover crops for your Production System (Radovich)
• Cover Crops as Insectary Plants to Enhance Above and Below Ground Beneficial Organisms (Wang)
• Advice on obtaining seeds of green manure and cover crops in Hawaii 
  (Joy & Evans, rev 2012)
• Technical Note 6: Commercial sources of plant materials native to the Pacific
  island area
• Sunn hemp for Soil Health and Nematode Management (YouTube Video, Wang)
• Improving sunn hemp benefits by integrating with Solarization (Wang)
• Improving Marigold cover cropping for Nematode Management (Wang)
• Improving the Status of Sunn hemp as a Cover Crop for Soil Health and Pest Management (Wang)
• Strip Till Cover Cropping and Row-Switching Technique (Wang)
• Soil solarization and cover cropping as alternatives to soil fumigation for pineapple growers in Hawaii (Wang)
• Sustainable Seed Production and Cover Crops (Goldstein & McHugh)
• Accelerating the Adoption and Implementation of Proven Cover Crop Technologies in Hawaii Dr. John McHugh, CropCare Hawaii (posted 7/07)
• Green Manure Crops that can help to control Nematodes in Dryland Taro (.wmv video) Dr. Susan Miyasaka, Alton Arakaki, Dr. Brent Sipes, and Dr. Ray Ming

 

Manure & Composts

A Portable Dry Litter Pig Pen by Glen Fukumoto and Jim Wimberly (CTAHR Factsheet).

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

Reducing Wastewater from a Swine Operation, ADAP Factsheet.
Collection and Separation of Solid and Liquid Swine Wastes, ADAP Factsheet
Treatment, Storage and Use of Swine Waste Solids, ADAP Factsheet
Treatment, Storage and Use of Swine Wastewater, ADAP Factsheet
Dry Litter Waste Management System, ADAP Factsheet

Pigs in Paradise Website: managing pig manure (American Samoa)

USDA NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps fund projects that install conservation measures on agricultural lands to address animal waste, sedimentation, noxious weeds, insufficient water supply for crops or livestock, excess surface runoff, pesticide or nutrient contamination of ground or surface waters, or at-risk species habitat.

 

Beneficial Insects

BENEFICIAL INSECT FLASH CARDS  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 Acknowledgement

Farming for Beneficial Insects: Pollinators, Predators and Parasitoids (YouTube)

Wasp Nesting Block: a condominium to attract natural enemies of pests

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. It provides information on Hawaii pests sorted by crop, pest type, scientific name, and photos

• Evaluating spiders for their potential to control cabbagewhite butterflies (Pieris rapae)
• Unlikely guardians of cropping systems: Can birds and spiders protect broccoli from caterpillar pests?
• Using clovers as living mulches to boost yields, suppress pests, and augment spiders in a broccoli agroecosystem

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

Pollinators

• Carpenter Bees (UH Honeybee Project)
• Gardening/Farming with Honey Bees
• Habitat Planting for Pollinators Pacific Island Area (USDA NRCS PIA)
• Hawaii's Native Bees (C. Magnacca)
• Importance of Honeybee Pollination (UH Honeybee Project, 2014)
• Meet the Pollinators (Villalobos, presentation)
• Pollinators in Hawaii (UH Honeybee Project, 2014)
• The Kamehameha Butterfly and the Pulelehua Project
• Solitary Bees: Build a Bamboo House/Habitat
• Varroa Mite Research at the University of Hawaii

 

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Pests and Pest Control

Nematodes

• An ally in the war against nematode pests: using sunn hemp as a cover crop to suppress root-knot nematodes
• Solarization and cover cropping as alternatives to soil fumigants for nematode management in Hawaii’s pineapple fields
• Plant Parasitic Nematodes and their Management
• Protecting crops from nematode pests: Using marigold as an alternative to chemical nematicides
• An Ally in the War Against Nematode Pests: Using Sunn Hemp as a Cover Crop to Suppress Root-Knot Nematodes
• Plant-parasitic nematodes and their management  

Insects 

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

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. This book describes over 150 plants that are considered weeds in Hawai’i. On-line downloadable .pdfs available at: Weeds of Hawaii
• Weed Science Hawaiian Style with Dr. Joe DeFrank
• An Organic Weed Control Toolbox (eXtension)

Pesticides and Pesticide Safety

• CTAHR’S Extension Pesticide Program is CTAHR’s clearinghouse for pesticide use information.
• Pesticide Risk Reduction Education Program (farmer training program for safe use of pesticides, includes excellent comprehensive on-line training materials).
• The Costs of Organic Pesticides\

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Plant Disease

Resource Websites:

• Hawaii Plant Disease
• Flickr Images
• YouTube Channel
• The Plant Doctor App
• The Leaf Doctor App
• 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).
• 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.
• Tea Time in the Tropics: A Handbook for Compost Tea Production and Use(Radovich & Arancon)

CTAHR Publication and Information Central has many free and for sale publications on plant diseases.

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Soil Identification, Health & Fertility

Identify your soil

• Hawaii Soil Atlas: http://gis.ctahr.hawaii.edu/SoilAtlas
• Soils of Hawaii
• Soils of Maui County (contains general intro to Hawaii soils)

Fertility and Soil Quality

• Testing Your Soil: Why and How to Take a Soil-Test Sample
• Soil Nutrient Management for Maui County
• Plant Nutrient Management in Hawaii's Soils
• 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
• Tea Time in the Tropics: A Handbook for Compost Tea Production and Use(Radovich & Arancon)
• Adequate Nutrient Levels in Soils and Plants in Hawaii (General Guide)
• 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.

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Agroforestry

• Hawaii Forestry Extension serves as a rich clearinghouse of information about tropical forestry in Hawai‘i.  
• Agroforestry Links section allows you to quickly locate information about topics ranging from tree species and seed sources to cost share programs. 
• Hawaii Forestry and Agroforestry Trees lists many of the trees commonly utilized in agroforestry initiatives here in Hawai'i.

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Livestock Management

Grass Farming

Pasture and Range Management: See CTAHR's list of free publications available on 

Stocking rate: The most important tool in the toolbox by Mark Thorne and Matthew Stevenson.

Hawaii Rangelands Website provides introductory information and links for rangeland education.

The Forages Website provides grazers with tropical grass and legume information compiled from research station and on-ranch field plot projects from CTAHR’s Cooperative Extension Service. Website also contains information about marketing Big Island beef, “A Taste of the Hawaiian Range.”

Beef & Dairy

CTAHR Beef Initiative, to improve the competitiveness, profitability, and sustainability of the beef industry.

Hawaii Cattlemen's Council

Swine

What do you need to raise pigs?  by Dr. Halina M. Zaleski, University of Hawaii Swine Extension Specialist.
Vaccination Schedule for Swine in Hawaii by Dr. Halina M. Zaleski, University of Hawaii Swine Extension Specialist.
A Portable Dry-Litter Pig Pen, CTAHR Factsheet
Keeping Pigs Cool, ADAP FactSheet
New Construction Ideas for Healthier Pigs - Farrowing and Nursery, ADAP Factsheet
New Construction Ideas for Healthier Pigs - Flushing System, ADAP Factsheet
Food Discards for Swine, ADAP Factsheet

Sheep

Goats

Poultry

 

Environmental Issues

Silvo-Pasture

Grazing Livestock Under Orchards by Glen Fukumoto, CTAHR

Marketing

Taste of the Hawaiian Range is a successful marketing effort organized by CTAHRCooperative Extension to promote Big Island beef products.

Newsletters

• Kauai County Livestock News

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The Farm as Habitat: Environmental Topics  

Coral Reefs

Endangered Species & Wildlife Protection

Hawaii has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of threatened and endangered species in the nation. Our islands are small and the influence of man’s land uses so great that currently 312 plants and animals are considered to be threatened or endangered. Often farmers can manage land to enhance habitat for these plants and animals.

• The Farm as Habitat, Chapter 2, Towards Sustainable Agriculture
• Native Wildlife Habitat and Farming: Yes, They are Compatible(article in Hanai'Ai by Dr. Gregory Koob, USDA NRCS)
• Incentive Programs for Forest Landowners in Hawaii

Funding Sources for Conservation

USDA NRCS Financial Assistance Programs: General overview of conservation, farm/ranch, forestry, grassland and environmental programs offereded by the USDA NRCS. Contact your local USDA NRCS Field Office for technical assistance and cost-share funding.

• Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to promote the conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life, and other conservation purposes.
• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps fund projects that install conservation measures on agricultural lands to address animal waste, sedimentation, noxious weeds, insufficient water supply for crops or livestock, excess surface runoff, pesticide or nutrient contamination of ground or surface waters, or at-risk species habitat.
• Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) is a federal cost-share program (operated through the USDA NRCS) to assist landowners and leasees up to 75% of the cost of the conservation practices.
• Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) is a cost sharing program to help landowners and leasees restore, enhance or create wetlands on agricultural lands.

Invasive Species: Invasive and Noxious Weeds

With the best intentions, agriculture, forestry and most recently the horticulture and landscaping industries have introduced plants and animals to the Pacific Islands which over time proved to seriously out compete native species. Fortunately, farmers can now check to see if a plant that they grow will cause long-term damage to our island’s ecosystem.

• Weeds of Hawai'i's Pastures and Natural Areas(order form): An identification and management guide ($20, ordering information). This book describes over 150 plants that are considered weeds in Hawai’i in most circumstances. Sections are available on-line athttp://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/invweed/weedsHi.html

Livestock Management

Manure management can be a major headache for livestock producers! Water quality citations and fines from improper storage and spreading can be avoided with good management. Partner with other landowners to use manure and compost to improve soil quality Refer to the animal production webpage for more information about rotational grazing, manure management, and composting.

Soil Erosion

Erosion from farmland impairs water quality and farmers can be fined. Plan to prevent erosion you’re your property. These websites can help you manage your land resource to keep your valuable topsoil on-site. Land clearing is regulated by local grading ordinances. Before clearing land, be sure you learn about your restrictions.

• 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.

Water

Land use changes have caused extensive damage to water quality nationwide. Agriculture has been a source of sedimentation that damages our coral reefs, nutrient pollution which causes excessive algae blooms, pesticide and herbicide pollution in our groundwater. We can learn from these past mistakes. In addition, funding is often available to assist landowners and leasees to protect our water resources.

Water Quality

• State of Hawaii Regional Water Quality Programcontains information about water quality issues relating to animal waste management, nutrient and pesticide management, water conservation and agricultural water management, drinking water and human health, watershed management, pollution assessment and prevention, and environmental restoration.

Stream Protection

• Hawaiian Streams (Hawaii Dept. of Aquatic Resources)
• Hawaii Pollution Prevention Information (HAPPI) Farm Series. Free downloadable fact sheets prepared by CTAHR about minimizing pollution from farming.
• ATTRA: Protecting Riparian Areas: Farmland Management Strategies. This publication is designed to help farmers, watershed managers, and environmentalists understand what healthy riparian areas look like, how they operate, and why they are important for the environment and society.

Groundwater Protection

• Pesticides and Groundwater in Hawaii(CTAHR Pesticide Risk Reduction Education webpage)

Wetlands

Natural Resource Inventories

Webinars

 

Webinar Portal for Conservation of Natural Resources: Up-to-date info on the latest research and industry practices in forestry, conservation, bioenergy, and natural resources. Most user friendly webinars provide the opportunity to accrue continuing education credits, from professional accrediting organizations such as Society of American Foresters, International Society of Arboriculture, The Wildlife Society, Certified Crop Advisors, and others.

The Business of Agriculture

  Farm Business Skills Training

• Hawaii Agribusiness Guidebook: CTAHR and O'ahu RC&D
• CTAHR Agribusiness Incubator Program: The Agribusiness Incubator Program (AIP) seeks to provide business consulting services to agriculture-related businesses throughout the State of Hawaii, maximizing their chance of business viability and success, in order to grow the State’s diversified agriculture industry.
• Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses is an online business planning guide by the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA).

Marketing: General Information

• Toward Sustainable Agriculture: A Guide for Hawaii's Farmers (downloadable .pdf): General Introduction to sustainable agriculture for Hawai'i. Chapter 6 Marketing
• Hawaii Island Farmer's Guide to Accessing Local Markets
• This Hawaii Product went to Market: CTAHR publication for the produce, floral, seafood, livestock and processed-product industries in Hawaii and elsewhere.

Locally Grown
Farmers Markets - Farm Stands

• "Farmers' Markets Rules, Regulations, and Opportunities" by Neil D. Hamilton.

Pick Your Own
AgriTourism - Entertainment Farming
Restaurant Sale

• Nalo Farms: Servicing High-End Restaurants

Farm to School
Marketing Cooperatives
Internet - Mail Order
Adding Value - Processing
CSAs - Community Supported Agriculture - Subscription Farming
Marketing Organic Products
 

LINK HERE for advanced resources from AIP