Earth Systems Science, Inc.

ESSI CONNECTS WITH UH TROPICAL PLANTS & SOIL SCIENCE DEPT.

Jan 18, 2004

Photo: Dr. Joe DeFrank and Gregory Lee in a no-till living mulch test field. (c)2004, ESSI. Photo by Saifon Lee.

Saifon and Gregory Lee recently met with Dr. Joe DeFrank, a weed control specialist of the University of Hawaii Tropical Plant and Soil Science, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. They were searching for suitable ground covers and green manures for use in a soil erosion and sustainable agriculture project in Northern Thailand.

What they got after meeting with DeFrank was beyond their wildest hopes. For the past 12 years, DeFrank has been advocating a no-till and living mulch tropical agricultural system that is so highly integrated and ecologically sensible and simple to do that it sounds too good to be true. ?“Yes,?” he admits, it is easy and simple to do, but it goes against almost everything farmers have been taught to do.

As a weed control specialist, DeFrank worked to develop, test, and use herbicides to help boost agricultural productivity. But he managed to step outside the box and rethink the whole agricultural system. Typically, farmers plow the land to get bare soil to begin planting their crops. Bare soil is an open invitation to ?“pioneering?” species to enter the field---weeds. In fact, so many different kinds of weeds appear that the farmer must try to find a herbicide that will kill a ?“broad spectrum?” of weeds---and that usually means it can also kill the crop plant.

DeFrank?’s approach is to clear the soil of all weeds by first fertilizing and ?“growing the weeds?” to purge the weed seeds from the soil. Then he kills them with a herbicide that is ecologically friendly. He then selects a ?“friendly?” weed---one that doesn?’t grow very fast, doesn?’t spread quickly by roots or seeds that attracts beneficial insects, and is relatively disease resistant. He grows the friendly weed between the crop rows. Fertilizers and manures are put on the ?“friendly weed?” strips. In the tropics, heavy rainfall often washes these fertilizers away as surface runoff?—making them a non-point water pollution source---before they can are taken up by the crop plants. The ?“friendly weed?” takes in the fertilizers quickly, converting the chemicals into plant (organic) materials. The ?“friendly weed?” is then cut and used as mulch in the crop rows. The mulch decomposes and slowly releases the nutrients into the soil in the crop row. Additionally, the mulch reduces soil erosion, runoff, and weeds. Mulch increases soil moisture retention, shades and shelters crop seedlings from wind, and helps create more favorable conditions for earthworms. (These are the ?“organic?” plows for DeFrank?’s no-till method. Beneficial insects (e.g. hover flies and honey bees) are attracted to the pollen of the ?“friendly weed.?”

Ironically, few farmers in Hawaii seem interested in this integrated system of environmentally sustainable farming. There has been little or no interest in funding his research in this area. ?“I?’ve been waiting 12 years for someone like you to walk through my office door,?” DeFrank commented to the Lees. DeFrank?’s openly enthusiasm for this system is well justified. This one visit convinced the Lees to adopt the method. It will be adapted to a pilot project they are planning for Northern Thailand over the next 2 years. In exchange for sharing his ideas and methods, the ESSI pilot program will be structured to provide full credit DeFrank and provide feedback data for his research.

DeFrank also introduced the Lees to the UH Seed Lab which sells vegetable seeds specifically hybridized for tropical conditions. ESSI will survey rural Thai markets to see which UH seeds might be feasible to try to introduce.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the ESSI summer 2004 pilot project should contact Saifon Lee at earthsystemsscience@yahoo.com