Food crops & organic farming

Component Objective: To strengthen sustainable organic food production by provision of elite germplasm & information on new technologies particularly for sustainable land management.

Varieties of african yam being bulked for distribution to farmers - providing rural people with a more diverse base for their staple foods to improve food security.

The fundamental driver of agricultural change in Solomon Islands is land use intensification as a result of population growth. To address the degradation of soil and decline of yield that is the consequence, varietal improvement, crop diversification, new technologies for soil improvement and better pest and disease management are required. Support is needed not only because a vast majority of people in the country grow their own food, but also because people derive their main source of income from fresh produce.

KGAs believes in using organic approaches to food production and does not support the use of synthetic chemical inputs in agriculture.

The overall aim of the work of this component is to diversify food staples, provide farmers with access to open-pollinated vegetables (through the PMN), and also legumes for food production, sale and soil improvement. EXPECTED RESULTS A number of farmer schools, germplasm centres and exchange networks (e.g., PMN), conserving and distributing local and introduced varieties of vegetables and staple crops (from the SPC CePACT). A number of local techniques (indigenous knowledge) collected by farmers (and farmer schools), documented, tested and widely distributed using different methods of communication. A number of demonstrations on crop intensification – e.g., at farmers’ schools: use of legumes (including peanuts); conservation of organic materials; prevention of soil loss; pest control (cultural methods; and plant derived pesticides).

Awareness of disasters/emergencies and appropriate responses using MAL and VBMS radio programs, newspaper articles, inclusion in curricula of farmer and SIG schools on the need on increasing stocks of wild yam, breadfruit, kakake, etc.