Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Agriculture Development in the American Pacific (ADAP) is a consortium of the 5 Pacific Land Grant colleges (American Samoa Community College; College of Micronesia [covering the Federated States of Micronesia - Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Yap, Palau Community College, and the College of the Marshall Islands], Northern Marianas College, University of Guam, and the University of Hawaii. This group, comprised of the Directors of the respective institutions, meets twice each year with the annual meeting of WERA 1004 occurring in the summer. Agriculture Development in the American Pacific (ADAP) is a consortium of the 5 Pacific Land Grant colleges (American Samoa Community College; College of Micronesia [covering the Federated States of Micronesia - Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Yap, Palau Community College, and the College of the Marshall Islands], Northern Marianas College, University of Guam, and the University of Hawaii. This group, comprised of the Directors of the respective institutions, meets twice each year with the annual meeting of WERA 1004 occurring in the summer.

This project functions through a number of activities that are supported/facilitated by the Directors based on identified needs in the region. Projects include Human Resources & Capacity Building, Enrichment Opportunities, Leadership Development Opportunities, Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment, Communications and Information and Publications Services, and Management Services.

Objective 1: Increase the abilities of current ADAP-affiliated staff and provide training for potential future staff, students and potential Land Grant students.

ADAP provided funding for staff members to pursue education opportunities. Two American Samoa Community College (ASCC) staff members completed their degrees in Spring 2007: Faiane Miller (Natural Resources major) and Laumata Talofa (General Agriculture major). Miss Miller is currently participating in the forestry internship program at Costa Rico. The College of Micronesia (COM) continues to fund advanced degree courses for Mr. Robert Jackson (SDSU online Masters Degree program on Educational Leadership) and Mark Kostkas Masters studies of botany at University of Hawaii, Hilo. The Northern Marianas College (NMC) continues to fund three students: Barnaby Lizama, staff pursuing an AA in NRM; Patricia Coleman, staff pursing BA in Education; and Lawerence Duponcheel, staff pursuing MA. The University of Guam (UOG) provides financial assistance to two full-time employees within the college: Mr. Jesse Rosario, pursing a MA in Business Administration, and Mr. Frank Alig, pursuing a MA in Environmental Science.

ADAP funded opportunities for high school students to experience college though short, summer learning opportunities. At ASCC, eleven students participated in the 2007 Summer Institute Program, which allows high school students the opportunity to take Agricultural classes at the college. At the University of Guam, five students participated in the 2007 Summer Research Apprenticeship Program. This program employs high school students to work alongside our research scientists, assisting them with ongoing research projects with either laboratory, fieldwork, or a combination of the two. Students may also be assigned to work with an extension agent under our Cooperative Extension Service, assisting in any number of extension service projects and activities. This summers program ran for a period of five weeks from June 25  July 27, 2007. From about thirty applications received, ten students were selected to participate in the program. Five were funded under the Enrichment Opportunities Project and the five were funded by the Resident Instruction Grant awarded to the CariPac Consortium. Students had the opportunity to participate in research and extension projects in the fields of aquaculture, ornamental horticulture, biology, agricultural engineering, and 4-H summer youth activities.

ADAP also funded two workshops to address the issue of the role of administrators within the Land Grant system. The first workshop (January 8-11, 2007) highlighted the role of administrators within the Land Grant System, the history of the Land Grant System, and a workshop on understanding the legislative process and its applicability to the Land Grant College. The second workshop, held in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the CARET meeting, had seven attendees. Participants met with Senator Inouye and learned about the legislative process.

Objective 2: Increase the efficient of delivery of ADAP programs.

ADAPs Management Services Project provides administrative services and program support that are essential for planning and implementing of ADAP activities. The five Land Grant institutions collaborate on research, extension and training activities using funds and protocols established within the Management Services project. The UH-based Home Office is responsible for organizing, planning, coordinating and providing overall support services for the ADAP project. UH administers the USDA grant through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). Funds are allocated to the ADAP institutions in accordance with the plans of work, but distributed on a cost reimbursement basis. The Home Office maintains a fiscal system consistent with the needs of participating fiscal institutions, RCUH and USDA. Home Office staff prepares technical and administrative reports that promote the functions and accomplishments of ADAP. During the period 10/2006 to 09/2007, ADAP organized two Board of Directors meetings, maintained three ADAP websites: the ADAP website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/), the Pacific Region Avian Influenza website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/Avian_Flu/index.htm) and the Pacific Islands Networking website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/Pacific_Initiative/index.htm).

Objective 3: Facilitate the development of projects that meet the needs of our Pacific island agriculture and community systems.

ADAP started the Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment Project to provide the foundation for developing solutions to reduce fossil fuel importation to the Pacific Islands. To that end, we will investigate candidate energy crops, commercial waste streams, and small scale conversion technology that have the potential to be a part of the solution. The project will focus primarily on Jatropha curcus, coconut (Cocos nucifera), and fish oil for biodiesel production and Panicum maximum (guinea grass) for ethanol production. Jatropha, coconut, and guinea grass were chosen for their low resource input requirements, especially water, and their ability to thrive on poor soils, which promotes land reclamation and inhibits soil erosion. Crops, waste streams, and conversion technologies will be evaluated for small scale and larger production potential to reflect the range of environmental resources found in the Pacific Islands. The project will accomplish the following objectives: Evaluate the technical and economic feasibility for producing biodiesel from Jatropha curcas, coconut oil, and fish oil, and ethanol from guinea grass in the Pacific Islands. Evaluate the potential application of commercial waste streams and small scale conversion technology for energy production in the Pacific Islands.

Objective 4: Provide convenient access to island research publications including gray literature. During the period from 01/01/07  06/30/07, ADAP provided 40 scientific articles, and one book loan from the University of Hawaii library to Pacific-region researchers.