A University of Guam agriculture student plants a grafted mango tree on the UOG campus on May 3. Photos courtesy of University of Guam ()
Tips and techniques for bountiful papaya and mango production will be the topics of two upcoming public workshops being offered through the Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program at the University of Guam’s Western Pacific Tropical Research Center. The workshops are free and open to the first 25 participants to register.
Papaya Cultivation Workshop
Time: 9 a.m. – Noon
Date: Saturday, June 24
Location: UOG Agriculture & Life Sciences Bldg., Room 127
To register: Email Kaya Taitaino at taitanok14646@triton.uog.edu.
With many gardens and farms devastated by Typhoon Mawar, papaya is one tree that will grow and produce fruit quickly. Workshop participants will learn from horticulturalist Dr. Robert Bevacqua and Extension Agent Mark Acosta about the best varieties of papaya for Guam and sustainable practices like drip irrigation to optimize fruit production. Rynette Perez, assistant coordinator of UOG Extension’s Community Nutrition Education Program, will also inform participants on the nutritional value of this plentiful local fruit.
Mango Grafting Workshop
Time: 9 a.m. – Noon
Date: Saturday, July 15
Location: UOG Agriculture & Life Sciences Bldg., Room 127
To register: Contact Mischa Cruz at (671) 735-2101 or cruzm4991@triton.uog.edu.
Mango growers can improve the production and quality of their trees’ fruit by propagating desirable varieties through the horticultural technique of grafting. Participants will learn the basics of the technique from a panel of grafting pioneers and will be able to take home their own mango tree grafted with a variety from the mango orchard at UOG’s Ija Research & Education Center. The workshop will also inform participants about the nutritional benefits of and major disease threats to mango.
These workshops are supported, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture.
