Fred Lau, Mari’s Gardens

July 19th

Oahu RC&D Aquaponics Fact Sheet (includes a topic definition, farmer profile and helpful resources)

Fred Lau and his staff at Mari’s Gardens shared their insight into aquaponics with our group. We were given a glimpse of day-to-day water quality issues as well as the use of solar to operate pumps. Fred also shared answers to the big questions about an aquaponics operation and led us on a tour of the facility.

Aquaponics is an intensive, sustainable agriculture technique, which relies on the waste from fish rearing to provide the nutrients for growing plants hydroponically (without the use of soil). The fish and the vegetables can both be agricultural products.

Additional guest speakers at the workshop included Clyde Tamaru of UH CTAHR who shared current research on Aquaponics and Luisa Castro of UH CTAHR who discussed food safety in Aquaponics.

 

 

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Handouts:

• Workshop Fact Sheet
• Conservation Practices (NRCS)
• Pacific Islands Area Fact Sheet (NRCS)
• USDA Farm Bill Programs for Farmers (NRCS)
• NRCS Conservation Planning Presentation Slides (Ben Vinhateiro)

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Web Resources:

• University of Hawaii Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Program
• Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program

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Publications:

• Towards Sustainable Agriculture in Hawaii
• Organic Soil Amendments
• Hawaiian Kalo
• Minimizing Non-point Source Pollution in Agriculture

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