Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Mark Rey announced the award of nearly $20 million to fund 51 projects across the country yesterday.

"The Conservation Innovation Grants provide an excellent opportunity to adapt new mainland or foreign country conservation tools to island agriculture and conditions," Lawrence Yamamoto, Director of the Pacific Islands Area for the Natural Resources Conservation Service said in a released statement. "We hope to utilize this program even more in the future," he continued.

CIG funds pilot projects and conservation field trials that can last from one to three years. The total value of the approved projects is about $45 million after the grantees match of at least 50 percent. Grants for approved projects cannot exceed 50 percent of the total project cost and the federal contribution for a single project cannot exceed $1 million.

Approved projects address traditional natural resource issues concerning agriculture such as water quantity, water quality improvement, livestock nutrient management, grazing lands and forest health, and soil resource management. Approved projects also address emerging natural resource issues including agricultural air emissions, energy conservation and market-based approaches to conservation.

The Hawaii recipient of the national CIG award goes to the Oahu Resource Conservation and Development, Inc. The $690,000 grant will be used for the project, "Accelerating Cover Crop Technology Adoption through Field Demonstrations Using Sunn Hemp, Oats, and Buckwheat in Rotational Commercial Crops."

This involves a commercial scale cover crop demonstration planting of two to ten acres, being established at 14 sites over the first two years. The size of the plots will vary due to different crops and crop rotations for different scale farms. Collaborators will counsel cooperators, monitor plantings, and demonstrate the benefits of the cover crop to soil fertility, beneficial insects, pest reduction, the follow-on cash crops, and business economics. Field days will be held on all sites, advertised and supported with posters, information handouts, and discussions. Site and crop specific field data (pest, agronomic, and economic) from the project will be analyzed, summarized, and translated to optimize transferability to interested and targeted immigrant farmers.

Finally, follow-up efforts will be used to maintain and increase current use by cooperators. The intent of maintaining and increasing the use of cover crops is becoming a more visible cultural practice and advancing adoption and implementation across Hawaii. This will allow NRCS field personnel to have references to the practice.