Cashew Agroforestry System In South Kona, Hawai'i

North Kona

SouthKona

KonaCoffeeBelt

●700-2000ft elevation●Higher elevations cloud forests●2-mile wide strip on lower slopes●Moderate-High rainfall (30-100 inches)●Consistent rainfall throughout the year●Mild climate (60-80F range)

History of Agriculture in Kona● Pre Coffee- Kona field system

-Ridges and walls enclosing small rectangular fields

-No evidence of irrigation, used rainfall only

-Crops planted based on elevation

0-150m - sweet potato, paper mulberry

150-300m - breadfruit orchards, sweet potato intercrop

300-750m - sweet potato, dryland taro

600-900m - plantain, banana

-Raised field borders planted with sugarcane

-Newman, T.Stett 1972

● Industrial Era

- Large scale sugarcane production 1890's-1960's. Last plantation closed in 1992.

- Coffee first planted 1830's in Kona where sugarcane couldn't grow well. Repeated crop failures and market volatility limited sucess until mid-1990's after sugar production ceased.

- Coffee an export/cash crop. Market fluctuations and crop failures can mean hardship when farmers are dependent on monoculture

● Post Coffee?

- Return to diverse small polyculture systems?

- Plant crops appropriate to local conditions (elevation, rainfall)

- Moving away from monoculture cash crop provides food and financial security for farmers.

- More resistant to price fluctuations and crop failures.

- Agro-tourism already firmly established in Kona region. Can showcase alternative agricultural systems and techniques.

- Preservation. Rapid loss of biodiversity in microclimate based ecosystems such as cloud forest and dryland forest on the lower reaches of Mauna Loa due to agriculture and housing developments.

- Farm located at southern end of Kona region

- Adjacent to main highway

- Elevation ranges from 1300-1400ft

● 8-acres on gentle slope ● Former coffee plantation now fallow for decades● Plot covered by secondary growth dry forest

● Soil is Kapua series-Highly decayed organic matter (0-18 inches)

-Volcanic sand and gravel (18-80 inches)

-Rich soil but excessively draining.

-Rapid infiltration, little runoff.

● UH survey of vegetation on Kapua series Koa Tree Christmas Berry Kukui Nut

(Acacia koa) (Lycium spp) (Aleurites moluccanus)

Ohia Lehua Guinea Grass Guava(Metrosideros polymorhpa) (Megathyrsus maximus) (Psidium spp.)

● Cropping system arranged

according to permaculture

zoning principles with more

intense systems closer to dwelling

● Center of property cleared of

vegetation and applied as mulch

or biochar to zones 1-3

● Main crops are Cashew and

Sweet potato

● Edges of property maintained

as native forest. Breadfruit

intercropped with Koa

(N-fixer, shade tree) as border

between farm and forest

Zones 0-1● Dwelling and farm buildings● Raised bed cultivation of

vegetables (greens, melons, herbs)● Species chosen to attract benef.

insects (dill, marigold, basil)● Composting/vermiculture system

to utilize poultry/garden wastes● Focus on poultry production

(up to ten percent of food from

pigeon peas and 75-90% grain

feed replaced with sweet potato

flakes)● Rainwater capture and storage

systems

Zone 2

● Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas)

main subsistence crop. Poultry

food. Drought tolerant, can be

grown as perennial

● Row intercrop with Sunn Hemp

(Crotalaria juncea) N-Fixing plant

utilized for fiber and green manure.

'Tropic sun' cultivar developed as

cover crop for hawaii. Used to

control root-knot nematodes

● Shifting cultivation, rotated to

adjacent rows after two years

Sweet Potato Sunn Hemp

Zone 3● Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)

main cash crop.● Being promoted by state ag

agencies as alternative crop on

marginal lands● Many value added products

(Nut butters, fruit preserves,

alcoholic beverages, CNSL)● Labor intensive shelling process

can be mechanized without inputs

using low tech methods● Tolerant of poor, shallow soil

and drought conditions● Needs 1000mm rainfall to produce

so may require irrigation in dry year

Zone 3● Alley-cropped with pigeon peas

for N-Fixation and green manure/

mulch.● Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) fills

light gap between rows of cashew.

Utilized as human/animal food

and source of green manure after

harvest.● Arachis pintoi: non-edible relative

of peanut planted as semi-perm

ground cover to control weeds

and provide N-fixing benefits

to cashews

Cashew Apple Cashew nuts

Flowering and fruit development in dry season and harvested 3-4 months later. For Kona that would be early spring.

Pigeon Pea Arachis pintoi

Zone 4

● Semi-wild transition zone between

farm and forest. ● Minimal modification – removal

of non-native plants in understory● Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)

provides additonal food security

and windbreak/shade tree.● Koa planted as a functional native

to provide N-fixing effects.● Both trees provide food and habitat

for wildlife, as well as fast-growing

sustainable sources of wood.

Koa Wood Breadfruit Highly prized for

string instruments

Works Cited

1.) "4. Zones and Sectors - Efficient Energy Planning." Deep Green Permaculture. Wordpress.com, Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://deepgreenpermaculture.com/permaculture/permaculture-design-principles/4-zones-and-sectors-efficient-energy-planning/>.

2.) "Web Soil Survey." Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Web. 25 Apr. 2014 <http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/>

3.) "Cultivating Cashew Nuts." ARC-Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/Infopaks/cashew.htm>.

4.) "Online Rainfall Atlas of Hawai‘i." Giambelluca, T.W., Q. Chen, A.G. Frazier, J.P. Price, Y.-L. Chen, P.-S. Chu, J.K. Eischeid, and D.M. Delparte, 2013 Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 94, 313-316 Web. 25 Apr. 2014 <http://rainfall.geography.hawaii.edu/interactivemap.html>

5.) "Kapua Series - Official Soil Series Descriptions." Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Web. 25 Apr. 2014 <https://soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/K/KAPUA.html>

6.) "OPIHIHALE 2, HAWAII (517166) – Period of Record." Western Regional Climate Center <http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?hiopih>

7.) "Farm and Forestry Production and Marketing Profile for Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)" Ragone, D. Specialty Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry, 2011. Permanent Agriculture Resources, Holualoa, Hawai'i. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <http://agroforestry.net/2014-03-04-10-09-49/profile-downloads>

8.) "State Explores Cashew Nuts as Potential Cash Crop for Hawaii." Shimogawa, Duane. Pacific Business News, 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/print-edition/2013/03/15/state-explores-cashew-nuts-as.html?page=all>

9.) "Baseline Survey for Rare Plant species and Native Plant Communities within the Kamehameha Schools' Lupea Safe Harbor Planning Project Area.", North Kona District, Island of Hawai'i. Hawai'i Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report HCSU-TR-020. University of Hawai'i at Hilo. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/hcsu/documents/HCSUTR-014WarshauerNativeCoastalFloraFULLREPORT.pdf"

10.) "Land Capability Classification" Agricultural Handbook No. 210, Sept. 1961. Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. U.S Government Printing Office.

11.) "Benefits and costs of using perennial peanut as living mulch for fruit trees in Hawaii." Radovich, T., et al. Soil and Crop Management , Aug. 2009 SCM-27. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

12.) "Pigeonpea" Valenzuela, H. Smith, J. Sustainable Agriculture Green Manure Crops, Aug. 2002, SA-GM-8. Cooperative Extension Service. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

13.) "An Ally in the War Against Nematode Pests: Using Sunn Hemp as a Cover Crop to Suppress Root-Knot Nematodes" Hooks, C.R. Wang, K.H. Fallon, D. Plant Disease, Apr. 2006, PD-32. Cooperative Extension Service. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

14.) " 'Tropic Sun' Sunnhemp" Valenzuela, H. Smith, J. Sustainable Agriculture Green Manure Crops, Aug. 2002, SA-GM-11. Cooperative Extension Service. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

15.) "Feeding of sweet potato to monogastrics." Dominguez, P. L. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 95 (1992): 217-233. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

16.) "Some Woods of Hawai'i – Properties and Uses of 16 Commercial Species" Skolmen, R.G. Resource Management, June 2000, RM-7. Cooperative Extension Service. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

17.) "Chapter 2 – Cashew Production" Small-scale cashew nut processing. Azam-Ali, S.H. Judge, E.c, Gunasekara, J. 2004. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

● All Images public domain drawn from wikimedia commons. Attribution available on request