Tropical Fruit Production
TPSS 403
Faculty:
Alyssa Cho
Goals:
The emphasis will be placed, as much as possible, on crops and methods appropriate for small-scale production in Hawaii, with the intent of exposing you to the potential for a financially and personally rewarding career in tropical fruit crop production in our state.
Description:
This course is offered in odd numbered years in the Spring Semester.
Pre-requisites:
TPSS 300 or consent
Text(s):
Tropical Fruits. H. Nakasone and R. E. Paull. CABI Press, 1998
Statistics of Hawaii Agriculture, Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service
Other useful references:
- J.W. Purseglove, Tropical Crops - Dicotyledons
- J.W. Purseglove, Tropical Crops - Monocotyledons
- N.W. Simmonds, Evolution of Crop Plants
- J.J. Ochse, et al., Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture
Field Trips:
Visit to the Big Island for 3 days during Spring Break to look at successful horticultural enterprises and meet the entrepreneurs, as well as USDA and CTAHR researchers and their projects.
Course organization:
This course is offered as an online course with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous components. Video lectures on specific crops (macadamia nut, coffee, guava, passionfruit, papaya, pineapple, mango, etc.) follow the following format:
- Introduction - Common names, uses of fruit, nutritional value, importance in World and Hawaiian markets.
- Taxonomy - Botanical family and characteristics, scientific names of species, origin and evolution of crop.
- Botany - Descriptions of growth habit, leaf shape and arrangement, flower type and reproductive biology, fruit type, and biochemical aspects.
- Culture and Management - Environmental requirements, propagation, spacing, training and pruning, irrigation, fertilization, weed, disease and pest control, harvesting and handling.
- Varieties and Breeding - Important local Hawaiian cultivars and current efforts to improve existing varieties.
- Uses - Processing and value added for these crops will be discussed.
Students can watch videos and complete assignments and evaluations asynchronously. Students will meet weekly for one hour for a journal club discussion with their instructor and peers using video conferencing (Zoom).
Grading:
Three (3) tests will be given during the semester, including the final exam. The tests will consist of questions requiring a short written paragraph or diagram. The tests will be mostly non-cumulative, so that for the most part you will be tested only on information presented since the previous exam.
Each week one crop module will be covered and students must complete a quiz covering that module.
Each student is responsbile for presenting and facilitating a journal club session.
