Integrated Training for farmers and students at Hango Agriculture College

Monday, January 15th, 2018

 The Integrated Training for farmers training was held at Hango Agriculture College on 9th Nov. 2017.  The  Principal Rev. Finau welcomed participants to a training for farmers and students which aims to give an overview of ways to improve our agriculture production to ensure that food production remains sustainable, while still looking after the soil and land.

‘Were very pleased to see this major integrated training event, which uses our new Hango Seed Centre’.

Gibson Susumu from the EU-supported ‘Pacific Agriculture Policy Programme of the Pacific Community (SPC) gave context on how and why Hango had been chosen as a seed centre, based upon requests from the Tongan government and the enthusiastic support of the schools administration.

The intensive training covered land use, pesticide use, seed crops, agroforestry systems and nursery management.

Dr. Viliami T Manu, CEO of the Tongan Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forestry (MAFF)  opened the training and presented information on the geology and suitability of some of the major Tonga islands for different vegetable and tree crops. Dr. Manu also presented on the history of pesticide use and regulation in Tonga and the importance of the pesticide act for regulation and registration to ensure that banned pesticides are not used in Tonga. Dr. Manu and Sione Foliaki from MAFF presented on the risks of pesticides to human health and the importance of wearing protective clothing. They emphasised the importance of using an insect pest’s own natural enemies as a first line of defence, and the importance of having a detailed understanding of the different modes of action of various chemicals before using them.

Forestry Division staff member, Heimuli Likiafu and Live and learn staff member Taniela Hoponoa presented on Tongan integrated tree-crop systems and how the traditional approach is both more sustainable and better for soil with many more different crops growing together, staged planting and practices such as mulching and use of nitrogen-fixing crops such as beans to ensure that the soil is fed (as well as the humans).

Mani Mua from SPC explained the processes of selection of plants to create varieties of vegetables. He talked about the ways to select the best fruit and extract the seed, so that seed for the next planting is always available. The students and farmers learnt ways of extracting different seeds and did some ‘HANDS-ON’ practise of the techniques. They learnt about the best ways of air-drying so as not to cook them. Taufa Tu’a the field manager at the Hango Seed Centre showed the farmers and students how they go about evaluating different vegetables in the field.

Hango Seed Centre is a partnership between Hango Agriculture College, MAFF Tonga, ‘Eua District Council, SPC and FAO to increase the availability of food crops for Tonga which have been tested and found to be suitable for Tonga. The College and MAFF hope that the Hango Seed Centre will continue to grow, both as a vital second evaluation site for new crops being tested in Tonga, but also to enable the curriculum of the school to be strengthened.

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