The Pacific Soil Partnership supports sustainable soil management across 22 island nations in the Pacific. It has 5 pillars: 1) promote sustainable soil management, 2) encourage investment, education and extension, 3) promote targeted soil research, 4) enhance soil data collection and analysis, and 5) harmonize soil measurement methods. Recent projects include composting research, promoting Mucuna cover crops, developing a Pacific soil portal, and supporting countries' climate smart agriculture goals.

1. Presenter name
Title presentation
Pacific Soil Partnership
Mike Grundy

2. PACIFIC SOIL PARTNERSHIP
22 PICTS, Australia, France, NZ and US
FAO supports 14 countries
• 22 island nations of the Pacific (11.7m),
New Zealand (4.7m) and Australia (24.8m)
• Ancient to modern (and generally fragile)
 Continental geology –
 Australia, New Caledonia, PNG, New
Zealand
 Older volcanic islands –
 Austral islands and part of Fiji
 Futuna, Samoa, Tahiti, Wallis
 Young volcanic islands – FSM, Tonga, Vanuatu,
Taveuni, Rotuma, New Zealand, etc
 Uplifted atolls
 Nauru, Niue
 Loyalty Islands and part of Guam
 Low atolls –
 ustic– Tokelau, Kiribati, Nth Cooks, part of
Tuvalu
 Udic - RMI, Tuamotus, Ha’apai

3. Pillar 1: Promote sustainable management of soil
resources for soil protection, conservation and
sustainable productivity
• Soil is a flagship research and development issue in the Pacific
Islands
• Supported Fiji’s UNCCD and FAO funded land degradation neutrality
project
• In promoting the voluntary guidelines for sustainable soil management
- PSP is promoting use of targeted compost on atolls and use of
Mucuna pruriens as cover crop in higher islands.
• Best management in national priorities:
• A focus on managing the hydraulic behaviour of NZ soils
• SSM reducing sediment, nutrients and pesticides reaching the Great
Barrier Reef
• New national landscape program in Australia focussed on key soil
management issues
• New interest by financial companies in ‘natural capital’

4. Pillar 2: Encourage Investment, Technical
Cooperation, Policy, Education, Awareness and
Extension
• Pacific island nations:
• Soil science in the capacity building component of the Pacific
Regional Extension Plan (Tonga, Fiji and Kribati)
• Aim for national education systems to incorporate soil science
into their school curricula.
• Soil doctor program in Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands
and Fiji (Hanna quick soil test kits, Solvita respiration tests, and
the Palintest SKW 500 soil test kit).
• Australia: A focus of state agencies and Soil Science
Australia
• Soil Security and Planetary Health Conference – Sydney,
4-6 December 2018

5. Pillar 3: Promote targeted soil research and
development focusing on identified gaps,
priorities and synergies with related productive,
environmental and social development action
• ACIAR/FAO support atoll soil health research in the Pacific
Islands
• New ACIAR Project Soil management in the Pacific Islands:
Investigating Nutrient Cycling and Development of a Soil Portal
is going to use the concept of mass nutrient balance to guide
nutrient cycling and management and also set up a Pacific Soil
Portal.
• Soil and water management promoted under Climate Smart
Agriculture initiatives in the Pacific Islands
• New momentum in soil carbon R&D in New Zealand
• Renewed interest in SOM dynamics, soil water and irrigation
strategies and removing sub-soil constraints

6. Targeted Composting
N - chaya, drumstick, NFTs, Vigna
P – pawpaw , drumstick, te kaura, cassava
K - young breadfruit lvs, ofenga, chaya
Cu - Pisonia, young breadfruit lvs, cassava
Mn - castor weed, Vigna, Hedge panax
Fe - Vigna, chaya, noni
Zn - cassava, hedge panax, Vigna
N P K S Cu Zn Mn Fe B Na
% % % %
mg/k
g
mg/kg mg/kgmg/kg mg/kg %
Max plants 4.9 0.5 2.2 1.2 13 119 65 70 98 1.9
Ash te uri 0.04 0.6 1.2 0.4 16 49 31 380 188 2.2
Ash coco 0.1 1.6 6.3 0.2 144 183 123 382 365 7.5
Mud 0.5 0.04 0.1 0.4 4 5 3 114 71 1.2
Algae 2.5 0.04 0.5 2.1 2 1 5 359 451 9.1
Seaweed 0.00 5.8 2.9 0.5 11 3 153 166 3.0
Seaweed 0.07 2.2 1.3 3 9 5 286 152 2.5
Sea
cucumber
10.2 0.5 0.4 4 40 44 184 8.8
Fish meal 8.3 1.1 0.7 5 102 25 836 0.3
Poultry
Manure
2.5 2.1 1.3 49 241 492 727 13 0.2
Compost ingredients (Best bets)
N sea cucumbers; fish meal; green lvs (chaya, drumstick, NFTs, Vigna);
manure; vegie scraps
P manure; ash (cnut husk, shell); green lvs (pawpaw, drumstick, te kaura)
K ash (cnut husk, shell); seaweed (Kappophycus); green lvs (young b’fruit,
ofenga, chaya); manure
Cu ash (cnut husk, shell); manure; green lvs (Pisonia, young b’fruit);
electrolysis
Mn manure; ash (cnut husk, shell);; green lvs (castor weed?, Vigna, Hedge
panax)
Fe manure; fish meal; ash; algae, seaweed (Ulva); green lvs (Vigna, chaya,
noni); rusty cans?
Zn manure, ash (cnut husk, shell); fish meal; green lvs (hedge panax, Vigna)
Targeted Compost on Atolls

8. Benefits
Use of Magic Bean (Mucuna pruriens) on Higher Islands

9. Pillar 4: Enhance the quantity and quality of soil
data and information: data collection
(generation), analysis, validation, reporting,
monitoring and integration with other disciplines
• The ACIAR Project will develop a soil portal for the islands
• Will work with Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services linking the
crop management practices to soil information.
• Soil and Landscape Grid of Australia
• New Zealand
• New Zealand National Soil Data Repository with substantial
functionality
• S-Map

10. Pillar 5: Harmonization of methods,
measurements and indicators for the sustainable
management and protection of soil resources
• The ACIAR Project will:
develop well evaluated and calibrated soil tests for the
different soils in the region.
 develop an appropriate soil test for organic carbon for atolls
in the region.
• PSP will revive the South Pacific Agricultural Laboratory Network
(SPACNET) under the new ACIAR Project
• Soil information inter-operability across the region using
ANZSOILML

11. COP 23 Presidency of Fiji
• Supported preparation for COP 23 by presenting a technical paper to
Pacific Leaders in the Pre COP meeting July 2017 on Climate Smart
Agriculture: Nutrient and Carbon Smart Technologies
• Supported Tongan Government’s side event on Plant Health and
Climate Change at the COP 23 in Bonn with a presentation on Climate
Smart Agriculture.
In addition:
• CSA, soils and water research priorities for the Pacific Region - side
event at the Pacific Agricultural Week to be held in Vanuatu, October
2018.
• Two climate smart villages in Tonga, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and
Tuvalu.
• Supported the Indian Soil Partnership in the running of an
international conference on food and sustainable agriculture held in
Dhanbad, Jharkhand from 27th to 30th March 2018. The PSP member
delivered the key note address for climate smart agriculture.

12. S-map
Prime Goals
 One complete soil map for NZ
 Upgrade good data + fill gaps
 Best available mapping/modelling
techniques
 Quantitative information for every soil
 Customised outputs
 Support management at all scales

13. NZ and soil carbon
• data requirements for greater inclusion of soil carbon in
the national greenhouse gas inventory:
• New sampling strategies across various environmental factors
(such as farm management, irrigation, soil type, climate and
topography)
• A long-term plan for implementing these strategies is being
developed.
• New Zealand’s soil carbon stocks are relatively high –
and that soil carbon stocks are higher under pasture,
when compared to forests.
• New Zealand’s hill country pasture is gaining soil
carbon, while our flat land pasture may be losing soil
carbon.

15. Daily Counts of SLGA Map Views
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16. The new ACIAR soil information system
• Answer key questions at the
regional scale
• Are nutrient budgets of Pacific Islands
sustainable?
• Can routine soil testing be delivered to
all countries?
• Can appropriate fertilizers and
ameliorants be delivered to the right
places at the right times?
• Mechanism of technical support for
lower-income countries in the
Pacific
• Technical teams take advantage of
proximity
• Improve delivery to the global
system
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