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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesLocal Environmentalists Learn Crop Tips on UVI Farm Tour

Local Environmentalists Learn Crop Tips on UVI Farm Tour

April 7, 2007 — Banana plants are members of the grass family; they are not trees. If you spray a tomato plant with diluted dish soap, you can rid it of pesky aphids.
These were a couple of the gardening tidbits that a dozen members of the St. Croix Environmental Association learned Saturday morning during a tour of the Model Integrated Farm on the University of the Virgin Islands' St. Croix campus.
Kathryn Lincoln, research specialist in horticulture and the farm manager, led the tour.
Her family has always been in farming, Lincoln said. They grew alfalfa, wheat, corn and soybeans, and raised Angus cattle on more than 3000 acres in Nebraska. In 2000, Lincoln got a bachelor's degree in agriculture and natural resources from the University of Nebraska, majoring in landscape design and horticulture. Later she picked up a master's in international forestry from Michigan Technological University.
Bu her real training, she said, came "by fire" in Panama. For two and a half years in the Peace Corps in a small village in Bocas del Toro, Lincoln ran a sustainable farm.
As she led the tour around the five-acre farm on land leased by UVI from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Lincoln pointed out the many varieties of vegetables on the farm. Crops discussed included tomatoes, asparagus, pigeon peas, luffa, corn, Japanese eggplants, corn, sorghum, pineapples, okra, sweet potatoes, peppers, cassava and a number of spices. She is looking for are varieties that are pest- and heat-resistant, and can survive on minimal water.
The participants asked several questions about the farm's irrigation system. The farm has a one-acre rainwater catchment. The water is delivered to the crops by a drip system. The system is inexpensive — 1400 feet of hose costing about $100 — and it can be obtained through mail order and sometimes in a local hardware store, Lincoln said.
Before she arrived on St. Croix a year ago, Lincoln said, she assumed the university taught agricultural subjects. "It is kind of crazy that we don't," she said.
Most of what is learned at the farm goes directly to the farmers on St. Croix, Lincoln said. About 10 local farmers visit the UVI farm regularly, and she in turn visits their farms.
As part of the integrated nature of the farm, tilapia fish are kept in the water-storage area to keep algae down. Some excitement was added to the tour when a farm dog jumped into one of the fish ponds and could not get out without help. Lincoln and a couple of tour participants got a little muddy rescuing the dog.
The Model Integrated Farm is part of the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) on the St. Croix campus. Its mission is to conduct research to help the local agricultural community in increasing production and improving efficiency. Also under the AES are agronomy, animal science, aquaculture, biotechnology, agroforestry and horticulture.
The farm has a produce store that sells its crops. For information about what is available and when it can be purchased, call 692-4221.
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