An official website of the United States government.
Because less than one percent of the United States population is involved in agriculture, young people do not have much direct exposure to the discipline and tend to have out-dated ideas of what agriculture is. This project intends to take advantage of the current interest in 'going green' to recruit students subtly and overtly to agriculture as it actually is. <P>
The existing lawn of Sockwell Hall, which houses the Biological Engineering Program of NCA&T, will be converted to a multipurpose permaculture laboratory to be used for course instruction and experiential learning of NCA&T students; for demonstrating the numerous environmental benefits provided by permaculture; and for recruiting agriculture majors. <P>
The NIFA strategic goals of climate change, childhood obesity, global food security and food safety will be addressed as students learn sustainable agricultural and social systems modeled by permaculture; as community involvement promotes better nutrition and exercise, better food availability and fewer chemical inputs in food production. The program priority areas are curricula design and materials development, student experiential learning and student recruitment with degree levels targeted at undergraduate and graduate. <P>
The need area addressed is teaching in the discipline of Environmental Science and Natural Resource Conservation with code EP.C. The anticipated impact on the food and agricultural sciences higher education system will be completed multidisciplinary instructional materials designed by professors and students from several departments that incorporate the permaculture laboratory into their courses and shows off agriculture. Completed instructional materials will be submitted to a website set up for the permaculture laboratory.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Permaculture is a diverse approach to sustainability. It is not a production system, per se, but rather a holistic land use and community planning philosophy. Permaculture looks at the interaction of all the parts of the system. Integrating permaculture into current university landscaping practice presents numerous environmental benefits and opens up a wealth of instructional principles in sustainable living that can be critically analyzed by students. First, permaculture encourages rain water harvesting, applying water through drip irrigation and planting hardy, drought resistant indigenous plant species and retaining residue as mulch to reduce soil evaporation lead to a significant savings in municipal water use. Second, runoff is reduced in permaculture because of improved infiltration due to the rain garden. Third, in permaculture, runoff pollutants are cleaned by the biological, chemical, and physical filtering capacity of the improved soil. Fourth, fertilizer use in permaculture is reduced because the plant species used require fewer nutrient additions to the soil than fertilizer-intensive lawns, and because plant residue, which contains nitrogen and phosphorous is recycled. Fifth, pesticide use is lower in permaculture because the so called weeds are encouraged in a permaculture system or, if necessary, will be hand-pulled, and insecticides are not as needed when a diversity of endemic plant species are used. Sixth, organic trash is minimized, because most plant materials will be recycled in a compost pit. Seventh, wild life habitat is established and wildlife food is provided, hence there is increased presence of wildlife in a permaculture garden. Eight, in permaculture, biological diversity is enhanced with the variety of plants and wild-life that will be nurtured. Ninth, energy use from lawn mowers and aerators will decrease, as mowing and mechanical aeration will no longer be required in permaculture. Tenth, air quality improves in permaculture because pollutants from lawn machinery are no longer released and plant leaves can filter particulate matter. Eleventh, carbon sequestration by plant and carbon dioxide consumption by plants is enhanced, which contribute to reduction of carbon footprint. Twelfth temperatures in the permaculture area are cooler. The value of the project at all levels is as a teaching laboratory for developing agricultural students interested in applications that can be modeled or examined using the permaculture laboratory. The project has potential spin-offs. If permaculture practice grows as a landscaping practice in urban sectors of North Carolina, then significant reductions of nitrogen, phosphorous and pesticide use can be experienced. Furthermore, this can expand to other areas in the NCA&T, other UNC campuses, and other States and can have national implications. Landscaping will no longer be lawn-based but also permaculture based. Permaculture can be a lure for agriculture; it may bring in students who had biases against agriculture, potentially solving an agriculture education problem of getting young people interested in the agriculture profession.
<P>
APPROACH: The permaculture laboratory will showcase three environments and is located in Sockwell Hall and its surrounding landscaping which is composed of a brick surface, lawn and permaculture garden. Also right across the garden is the biology greenhouse. This laboratory will be NCA&T faculty and facilities staff supervised, but will be student led and student propelled (experiential learning). Undergraduate scholars and volunteers will be stimulated to be advocates of Green Technology and this permaculture garden will be presented as a symbol, a battle cry of NCA&T students for change from traditional to sustainable landscaping practices. In the midst of this excitement, subtly and subconsciously, agriculture is introduced into the minds of the young. Brick surface - the environment at the brick surface will be monitored. Undergraduate scholars will install sensors to automatically measure hourly temperature and relative humidity in this area. Surface runoff will be assumed as equal to precipitation amount. Random observations on how this area is used by students will be recorded by the scholars. It is assumed that this area will be very hot during the summer and relatively warmer during the winter illustrating the concept of urban heat island, a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. The cost for maintaining the brick surface will be provided to scholars by NCA&T facilities. Lawn - the environment at the lawn surface will be monitored. Undergraduate scholars install sensors to automatically measure hourly temperature and relative humidity in this area. A class of hydrology students will estimate surface runoffs. Scholars will measure soil quality and insect population will be monitored in the lawn environment as well. The cost of maintaining the lawn will be provided to scholars by NCA&T facilities. Random observations on how this area is used by students will be recorded by the scholars. Permaculture Garden - the permaculture garden will be established and then monitored. Currently the site of the garden is traditional lawn. Baseline data on soil quality and wildlife (specifically, insect) population will be gathered in the lawn by student volunteers under the guidance of NCA&T soil quality and integrated pest management scientists. Rain garden and rain harvester designs had been completed and installed by BioE students as part of their senior capstone design graduation requirement. Also landscaping designs have been drawn by and volunteer alumnus of NCA&T landscaping architecture. Plants in the garden are being chosen through the guidance of NCA&T faculty, BioE alumnus, and a NCA&T staff, who is very knowledgeable with ornamental fruit trees. Lastly, NCA&T facilities staff are insuring that the permaculture garden complies with State of NC and NCA&T landscaping guidelines. Funds provided by this grant will be used for completing the establishment of a permaculture garden around Sockwell Hall.