World Soil Day 2013 – A Day Dedicated To Healthy And Productive Soils In 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences made a resolution proposing December 5 as World Soil Day. This day is designated to celebrate the importance of soil and its vital contributions to human health and safety. Under the framework of the Global Soil Partnership, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is celebrating World Soil Day 2013 in Rome on December 5, 2013. The goal is to raise awareness of the importance of healthy soils for food security, ecosystem functions, and sustainable development. Yap Proper has predominantly two types of soil. They are i) upland soils underlain by volcanic material, commonly called red soils, and ii) upland soils underlain by schist, commonly called clay soil. Red soils cover the volcanic plateaus and hillsides of Gagil-Tomil region and south of Yap Proper. Yap Proper has about 23.5 percent volcanic soils. These are the most degraded land and the least fertile soils in Yap. Almost half of the islands’ soils developed from the upheaval of ancient rocks thrust up to form Yap Proper. The soils occur over a range of slopes, from flat plains to steep hills. These soils are made up of a particular type of shrink/swell clay particles. It becomes sticky when wet and hard when dry. Red soils and clay soils have unique properties that behave differently and, therefore, need special management practices. What is critical about soil health now? Improving soil health is key to long-term, sustainable agricultural production. Soil health matters because: 1. Healthy soils are high-performing, productive soils. 2. Healthy soils reduce production costs—and improve profits. 3. Healthy soils protect natural resources on and off the farm. 4. Healthy soils can reduce nutrient loading and sediment runoff, increase efficiencies, and sustain habitat. What are the benefits of healthy soil? 1. Healthy soil holds more water (by binding it to organic matter), and loses less water to runoff and evaporation. 2. Organic matter (such as compost) builds as tillage declines and plants and residue cover the soil. Organic matter holds 18-20 times its weight in water and recycles nutrients for plants to use. 3. One percent of organic matter in the top six inches of soil would hold approximately 27,000 gallons of water per acre (approximately three-fourth size of a football field)! Follow four basic soil health principles to improve soil health and sustainability: Use plant diversity to increase diversity in the soil. Manage soils more by disturbing them less. Keep plants growing throughout the year to feed the soil. Keep the soil covered as much as possible. How to begin your path to Healthy Soils: Keep it covered. Do not disturb. Use cover crops and rotation to feed your soil. Develop a soil health management plan What is a Soil Health Management Plan? 1. It’s a roadmap to soil health. 2. It outlines a system of practices needed to enhance crop production and soil function, and improve or sustain water quality, air quality, energy efficiency and habitat. 3. It provides environmental, economic, health, and societal benefits. 4. It saves energy by using less fuel for digging/ploughing, and maximizes nutrient cycling. 5. It saves water and increases drought tolerance by increasing infiltration and water holding capacity as soil organic matter increases. 6. It reduces disease and pest problems. 7. It improves income sustainability for farms. 8. It improves plant health. World Soil Day is a great opportunity for Yap to reinforce soil health messages, while helping to promote World Soil Day. To know more about soils and need assistance in soil management, please contact Cooperative Research and Extension, College of Micronesia-FSM, Yap Campus . Chuuk Education Reform Group Makes Progress On Hastening Infra Upgrades WENO, Chuuk (MV/Saipan Tribune, Dec. 04, 2013) — The Chuuk Advisory Group on Education Reform focused on the issue of improving education infrastructure in Chuuk during its fourth quarterly meeting in Weno, Chuuk, during the week of Nov. 4, 2013. The Advisory Group is assisting the Chuuk State Board of Education and the Department of Education to follow through on reform commitments that were made at the high level meeting on education reform held in November 2012, with representatives from the FSM national government, the U.S. government and the Chuuk state government. Thomas Bussanich, director of the Division of Budget and Grants Management in the Office of Insular Affairs within the U.S. Department of the Interior; and Patrick Tellei, president of Palau Community College, attended the meeting. Fr. Francis X. Hezel, founder of the Micronesian Seminar, was unable to attend this particular meeting. While the advisory group discussed a broad range of issues with Chuuk leaders and educators, the focus of this visit was on breaking through barriers and accelerating the improvement of education infrastructure in Chuuk. Since the beginning of the Amended Compact in 2004, only one high school has been built in Chuuk despite the availability of available funding for infrastructure. An estimated $140 million remains available for Chuuk to improve infrastructure over the next 10 years, and all parties agreed education must be a priority going forward. To assist in moving forward on the construction of school buildings, a one-day meeting was held on Thursday, Nov. 7, between Chuuk state leaders and the advisory group, along with infrastructure grants manager Steve Savage of the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, and Bruce Howell, PE, head of the FSM national government’ project management unit. The meeting fully achieved its expected outcomes of: (i) a clear understanding of the challenges and obstacles that have stalled action on education infrastructure in Chuuk to date, together with a clear articulation of workable solutions; (ii) a clear and workable “model” for project preparation, modular school design, and construction management that meets Chuuk’s specific needs; (iii) a clear and specific list of projects/school sites that will be used for initial site assessments; and (iv) a clear understanding of timeline and tasks to be completed, as soon as practicable, to move forward on major renovations and new construction at school sites. During the meeting, a revised list of 25 prioritized public school sites in all five regions of the state were agreed upon to move forward with professional engineering work and other necessary assessments to determine their appropriateness for major renovation and/or new construction. It was agreed by all parties that this process will require outside engineering contractors and at least one full time project manager. Through this close partnership and planning effort by Chuuk State, the national government through the Project Management Unit and the Office of Insular Affairs, with the assistance of the advisory group, it is hoped to begin project construction on a shortened list of schools prior to the next school year. According to Tom Bussanich, “We feel that with this high level meeting, we have moved significantly forward in our efforts to overcome a variety of obstacles to building and improving schools here in Chuuk. It is our hope that these efforts will result in the construction of numerous schools next school year to the benefit of students, teachers and the broader community.” The advisory group also continued to discuss a broad variety of other issues directed at improving educational performance in Chuuk’s primary and secondary schools. The Board of Education and the advisory group agreed on a revised list of school consolidations that will be completed by Dec. 31, 2013. The Board of Education also agreed that they would finalize comprehensive plans, with the assistance of consultants, for teacher and professional educator contracts, school attendance monitoring, Board Training, a Primary School Pilot Project, WorldTeach volunteer utilization, basic school standards, and procurement, distribution and warehousing of supplies. During its one week of meetings in Chuuk, the advisory group once again held separate and joint meetings with the Chuuk governor, the Legislature, the Board of Education, and Department of Education to discuss the ongoing progress of 10 high level commitments made at the high level event as well as additional recommendations made by the advisory group during its first three quarterly meetings. The AG and the board have developed a productive working relationship as they partner to ensure implementation of needed reforms. The advisory group will return to Chuuk for its next quarterly meeting on or about the last week of February 2014. For additional information on background documents, meeting proceedings, correspondence and Advisory Group reports, visit pitiviti.org/chuuk. Japan, Palau To Cooperate For 2015 Pacific Islands Summit TOKYO, Japan (Kyodo News/PACNEWS, Dec. 04, 2013) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has met with Palau President Tommy Remengesau Tuesday, with the two leaders agreeing to cooperate in successfully holding a summit of small Pacific island nations in 2015 in Japan. “I want to deepen our cooperation” toward a successful meeting of leaders from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum, Abe told Remengesau when they met at the prime ministers office. Japan has hosted the summit every three years since 1997, seeking opportunities for further cooperation in areas such as economic development and maritime security. The next meeting in 2015 will be held in Fukushima Prefecture, where the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan wreaked havoc and where efforts are continuing to contain the impact from the subsequent nuclear disaster. Remengesau said he appreciated Japans aid to Palau after Typhoon Haiyan struck the country last month and asked for continued support. CNMI Tourism Body Wants Commonwealth To Become Flower Destination SAIPAN, CNMI (Radio New Zealand International, Dec. 04, 2013) — The Northern Mariana’s tourism body says it wants to tap the Commonwealth’s lush vegetation by developing it into a flower destination. The Marianas Visitors Authority’s Managing director, Perry Tenorio, has told the House Committee on Commerce about ongoing destination enhancements including the idea of developing the CNMI as a flower destination, among other things. Mr. Tenorio says while the CNMI has always been known as a beach destination and for its historic monuments, it wouldn’t hurt if the islands add attractions it can offer to tourists. He says the Authority has implemented improvements in safety and aesthetics in the historic Marpi area including repairs to restrooms and railings. Corruption Watchdog Says More Than Two-Thirds Of The World Corrupt BERLIN, Germany (Radio Australia, Nov. 04, 2013) — The latest survey on global corruption has found that more than two-thirds of the 177 countries surveyed are corrupt. Global watchdog Transparency International has released its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2013 and New Zealand and Denmark tied for first place with scores of 91 out of 100. Singapore came in at fifth spot and Australia was in the ninth place. Transparency International Australias Director Grahame Leonard told Radio Australia that despite coming in the top ten, Australia had slipped four points, which is quite considerable. Australian companies trying to do business are the ones who suffer at the result of this deterioration in our rating, he said. Were campaigning very hard and lobbying our new government to have a national anti-corruption strategy, which Australia does not have. Myanmar has shown marked improvements in its ranking, jumping from 172nd last year to 157th spot this year. Indonesias ranking has moved from 118th position to 114th, with Mr Leonard saying the country is making an attempt to clean up. The current Indonesian government has made great efforts to improve their anti-corruption techniques but its a long slow process, particularly in a democracy, he said. Thailand and Sri Lanka were two other countries that have dropped in their rankings this year to 102nd and 91st position respectively. At the other end of the scale, Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia were the worst performers. Measuring corruption The rankings were put together after going through a four-stage process, using data from 12 different organizations that measure public sectors around the world. For any country to qualify to be in the survey, there has to be at least three credible surveys and thats why many of our smaller neighbors in the Pacific region like Fiji are not in the survey because theyre not sufficient, credible sources available to us. Transparency Internationals annual list is the most widely used indicator of sleaze in political parties, police, justice systems and civil services. It gives countries a score between 0-100, where 0 means a countrys public sector is considered highly corrupt and 100 means it is regarded as very clean. Mr Leonard also expressed concerns about the Pacific which ranked 144 out of 177 countries and had among the lowest scores. Its 25 out of 100... thats disturbing and a worry particularly as the stakes get higher and higher in Papua New Guinea with natural gas developments there, he said. -END-
Posted on: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 03:25:47 +0000
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