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UF/IFAS Extension provides Floridians with life-long learning programs in cooperation with county government, the United States Department of Agriculture and Florida A & M University. The wide breadth of educational programming offered in each county responds to the local needs of residents, schools, regulatory agencies, community organizations and industry.
Programs include sustainable agriculture, teaching environmental stewardship, understanding food nutrition and safety, consumer and parenting skills and providing leadership for youth development with programs like 4-H.
By partnering with local government, advisory committees, concerned citizens, commodity groups and the youth of Florida, UF/IFAS Extension creates an important link between the public and research conducted on campus and at 13 research and education centers.
Situation or issue identification: Master Gardeners are volunteers trained by the Florida Cooperative Extension Service to help disseminate horticultural information to our urban, homeowner clientele. Much of the activity of these volunteers centers on the so-called "walk-in" trade, where clientele arrive at the county office seeking help in identification and control of plant health problems. Plant diseases are particularly difficult to diagnose and most Master Gardeners can benefit from the expertise of professional plant pathologists in developing diagnostic skills geared to the peculiarities of their portion of the state.
Measurable or potential impact: Half day sessions on the principles of plant pathology, especially disease diagnosis, have been held for Master Gardener trainees in four counties in southeast Florida, once or twice a year for the past several years. Approximately, 480 volunteers have been trained, representing a potential 24,000 hours of volunteer service returned to Cooperative Extension. These volunteers have indicated strongly that they are much more comfortable handling plant health questions because of the exposure to these sessions. About 500 copies of a new publication, Disease Diagnosis Guidelines for Master Gardeners, have been distributed to target personnel. A Web site has been produced using most of the color images from our live presentation: http://erec.ifas.ufl.edu/mg/index.htm.
Collaborating organizations/agencies: This work has involved collaboration between professional plant pathology staff at EREC and in Gainesville, staff of several county extension offices, and the volunteers themselves.
For more information contact: Kenneth L. Pernezny
Situation or issue identification: Sugarcane breeders select different traits in developing new cultivars. Sucrose and tonnage are among the most important ones. Although intuitively, and at a certain point in the growing process, one has to be produced at the expense of the other, a negative relationship has never been documented. The finding would have important implications for breeding programs since it would allow breeders to achieve optimal combinations of sucrose and tonnage depending on specific needs.
Rationale for support resources: The Extension Economist and an Agronomist at the UF/IFAS/EREC, and a USDA Agronomist at the Canal Point Station used the economic index previously described in an Impact Statement to identify such negative relationship. Measurable or potential impact in terms of social, economic, and/or environmental factors resulting from expenditure of support funds: Sugar is a multimillion dollar industry in southern Florida. At present time, there are about 450,000 acres devoted to sugarcane production in the area. Most of the acreage is planted with CP cultivars released through this program. The potential economic impact of each variety can be estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars over the planning horizon. Collaborating organizations/agencies and teaching/research/extension partnerships: University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at Belle Glade; USDA Field Station at Canal Point; Florida Sugarcane League at Clewiston; participating sugarcane growers.
For more information contact: Jose Alvarez
Situation or issue identification: Present-day America is an urban, technological society. Less than three percent of our total population is involved in raising the food and fiber necessary for supporting our nation's need. Because of this, many of us have lost sight of our agricultural roots. We no longer appreciate what it takes to plant a crop and to bring that crop to harvest. We no longer feel the devastation caused by a heavy rain, or the anxiety brought on by a prolonged drought or a hard freeze. Perhaps more importantly, we no longer experience the joy of eating something that we actually grew. It is a sad state of affairs when our youth believe that food comes directly from the supermarket, but for many of them, there is no extension beyond that.
Measurable or potential impact: A program that started out with only two elementary schools in the spring of 1997, Project SOAR has already expanded to twelve schools with more schools on a waiting list. Kids love to go out, visit and work in the class garden and many don't even realize that they are learning. They think they are just plain having fun. As energetic as the students are about SOAR, teachers may be even more so. Many teachers have discovered that SOAR is a way to reach kids who are otherwise uninterested in learning. Teachers are using their imagination to use the gardens in ways not even envisioned by the founders and numerous teachers have remarked that SOAR has revitalized their careers. At one of the program's original schools, faculty participation has increased from 10 teachers to over 40 during the interval of one year. SOAR gardens have quickly become focal points for what is RIGHT about our public schools. They have instilled a sense of pride and accomplishment not only in the students, but also in the faculty and administration. In addition, SOAR gardens have proven to be infectious, spreading beyond their borders. Little beautification projects are sprouting up all over participating school campuses, even in areas not originally intended, such as around portable classrooms. Perhaps best of all, Project SOAR is beginning to get parents involved. It is not uncommon to see pupils dragging parents by the hand before or after school to show them what 'they' have grown. Students are also taking their love of growing plants home, requesting home gardens. SOAR has the potential for reaching approximately 1,000 students at each of its participating schools, as well as dozens of teachers, administrators, and parents.
Collaborating organizations/agencies: A number of organizations are collaborating to make Project SOAR a success. These are: The University of Florida, IFAS; Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service; Palm Beach County Agriculture, Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority; Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection; and the Palm Beach County School District.
For more information contact: Richard N. Raid
