The Dominica Organic Agriculture Movement Inc. and the Florida Association of Volunteer Action in the Caribbean and the Americas (FAVACA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MOAF) will host a Lecture and Workshop series from Monday July 18, to Friday July 22, 2011 on Soil Management – Compost Technologies.
The primary objectives of this initiative is to train participants in the techniques of soil nutrient management for tropical organic crop production systems and to provide intensive technical training at composting sites with the potential to lead a composting industry.
The week of activities begins with a public lecture on ‘Soil Management for Organic Farming’ presented by Dr. George Fitzpatrick. The lecture starts at 7.30pm and will be carried live on DBS Radio and video streamed on www.islandriddimz.com
Workshops begin at 9.00 am daily and will be held at four locations across the island namely Bellevue Chopin Tourist Information Centre, Calibishie Government School, Castle Bruce Sports Complex and La Plaine Agriculture Center.
The programme is facilitated by Dr. George Fitzpatrick, Professor of Environmental Horticulture Farm at the University of Florida. He is a member of the University of Florida faculty since 1976 and teaches courses in palm production and culture, arboriculture, composting technology, and other horticultural subjects.
Dr. Fitzpatrick’s research program focuses on the utilization of recycled urban waste products in crop production, with emphasis on the effects of process technologies on the efficacy of compost products used as horticultural substrates. Dr. Fitzpatrick has been an invited lecturer and has presented seminars at compost conferences throughout the U.S. and in numerous foreign countries and in 1995 he was the recipient of the U.S. Composting Council’s Rufus Chaney Award for Research Excellence.
During 1998-2001, Dr. Fitzpatrick served as a Group Leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Peer Review of the publication Test Methods for the Examination of Composting and Compost, published in 2003 by the U.S. Composting Council. Dr. Fitzpatrick has served for 17 years, since 1994, as a member of the Editorial Board for the journal Compost Science and Utilization.
Dr. Fitzpatrick will be assisted by Dr. Mary Lamberts, a horticultural extension agent at the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service with responsibilities among others for Commercial Vegetable Production, Food Safety Educational Programs and Training for Restricted Use Pesticide Licenses. Dr. Lamberts has extensive experience with diagnosing problems with vegetables. Prior to working at the University of Florida, Dr. Lamberts taught an
Organic Gardening course at Cornell University for 4 semesters. She visited Dominica in 2008 as part of a Caribbean Trade Expansion Project, making site visits and teaching pesticide safety and 2009 as part of the WIBDECO / WINFRESH Project, she made site visits to vegetable and root crop farmers. Dr. Lamberts is also the author of a number of publications.
Topics to be covered during the workshops are Basic Principles on Compost Technology, Measurement of Compost, Physical and Chemical Parameters; pH Soluble Salt Levels, Moisture Content and Organic Matter Content, Compost Quality Determinations, Measurement of Compost Quality Parameters; Pile Core Temperatures, Pile core Oxygen Levels, Compost Maturity Bioassay Procedures, Health Aspects of Composting and Pathogen Control.
Practical sessions will be led by Dr. Fitzpatrick and Dr. Lamberts and includes a demonstration of Coliform Organism Measurement.
Practitioners of organic and conventional farming, persons interested in sustainable agricultural practices, technicians interested in soil management with an emphasis on organic nutrient techniques as well as other interested persons are expected to benefit from this training.
Registration for non-members is $30.00 and includes 1 year membership in DOAM.
DOAM members register for free. Meals and transportation will be provided for all participants.
The Lecture and Workshop series is an activity of the On-Farm Utilization of Bio-extraction Systems for the Manufacture of Liquid Organic Fertilizers and Natural Crop Protection Inputs project implemented by DOAM.
The Dominica Organic Agriculture Movement Inc. thanks the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme for providing funding and the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Science for allowing Dr. Fitzpatrick and Dr. Lamberts to facilitate the programme.
For their valuable input towards the success of this training programme, DOAM thanks its Co-Partners in this initiative the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Physical Planning, the Florida Association of Volunteer Action in the Caribbean and the Americas (FAVACA), the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Diaspora Affairs, Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation (DSWMC), Dominica National Fair Trade Organization (DNFTO), Dominica Bureau of Standards (DBOS), Dominica Export Import Agency (DEXIA), Dominica Essential Oils and Spices Cooperative (DEOSC), Environmental Coordinating Unit (ECU), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and National Farmers Groupings.
Interested persons should contact DOAM Inc. for more information at 265 8570 or visit our office downstairs the Cooperative Societies League Office from Tuesdays to Fridays from 11.00am to 4.00pm.
Good for DA..Way to go. Hail up to the organisers. Down with chemicals…it,s the natural way to survive.
Great initiative. There are farmers, past and present, however who have been, and still are pioneers in the composting/ organic farming business in Dominica.
It is disheartening to see that individuals like Andrew Royer, Who had an extensive theoretical an practical knowledge of this industry, we are now promoting, never having been given the chance to educate their
own people. I am not bashing this new nove toward organic farming, but when will we learn to appreciate our own.
For one, people like Mr Royer, the Ormonds in Bellevue Chopin, Carl and his wife in Bellevue have decades of documented practices that can be sourced.
Please utilize, in addition to the foreign experts, local expertise to complement their presentation. While the climate in Florida is of a tropical nature, the particular conditions present on the island are unique to Dominica, and who best to instruct about agronomy on the island but the local farmers with the knowledge.
Organic farming and composting are the ways to sustainable agricultural production for the future. DOAM keep on striving .