While brainstorming ideas for my senior project, I knew that my ultimate goal would be to help Maui become more sustainable. This goal, along with my interest and slight knowledge in agriculture (developed through my internship working with a local farmer) led me to my driving question: "How can I create a more agriculturally sustainable Maui by reducing the amount of imports needed and improving soil health?" My solution to this question was to plant a crop that would reduce the need for fertilizer and pesticide imports, decrease like soil erosion and runoff, and increase soil biodiversity. After bringing my driving question to my mentor, he helped me find a crop that would accomplish my goal. We decided to use the Tropic Sun Hemp, a nitrogen-fixing legume. This crop fixes nitrogen into the soil which reduces the need for harmful artificial nitrogen fertilizer. In addition to this, we implemented the crop into a crop rotation cycle, which increases soil health and biodiversity and interrupts pest cycles (reducing the need for harmful pesticides). We then created a plan for planting the crop, which included finding land, making a budget, and doing research. At the end of November, we planted the Tropic Sun Hemp and set up the irrigation in the agricultural park in Kula. Throughout the following months, we continued to maintain the crops and will soon be harvesting them for their seeds.
My work in this project mainly addressed my problem solving 21st century skill. Many things can go wrong on the farm, and it is important to come up with quick and creative solutions. For example, while we were working on setting up the irrigation drip tape, we found many breaks in the pipe. We had to find and cut out the sections of the tape that had breaks and insert a connector piece.