College of Agriculture, University of Arizona,
Arizona Land and People, Vol. 47, Number 2
Is There a Market?The climate is right, Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) land is fertile, and water is readily available from the Colorado River (although the irrigation system needs upgrading). Alfalfa and cotton are the main crops, and about 1,400 acres of onions are planted; 1,200 acres are in garlic, and peanuts are in another 400 acres. "We can grow a lot of things at CRIT, but is there a market? That's the real question," says Mike Rethwisch, a former UA Cooperative Extension agent for The Colorado River Indian Tribes, near Parker. Mike works with the CRIT farm advisory committee to follow through on the needs they see. "Tribal leaders take developing new crops seriously," says Mike. "We have the potential for growing olives, citrus, fresh flowers, dates, kenaf, and jojoba." All of these crops take management expertise and money to get started-and of course, an analysis of possible markets. Even though Asian market prices have gone down, alfalfa is still CRIT's main crop, Mike says. For that reason, he has helped with trials of 13 different alfalfa varieties to find which are best adapted to salty soils and Arizona conditions. "It's the only large-scale UA site for alfalfa variety testing," he says. They don't yet have all the data from the 1998 tests on salty soils, but the differences in growth are evident just by looking. Salty soils aren't the only problem. Roy Leivas, CRIT farmer, notes that the variety named after him, "Leivas Special," performed extremely well during the hot weather. "The UA has always taken the opportunity to help us solve problems," says Conner Byestewa, Jr., environment protection officer and member of the CRIT Farm Board. "We had alfalfa that just wasn't producing; it grew up to eight inches high and then stopped. It turned out to be a seed problem." Combating the pink bollworm and other insect pests takes careful, well-thought-out control methods. Conner says the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system was developed with help from the UA. "Their expertise is always valuable, and extension has been very,very helpful." Martin Güereña is the new UA extension agent who will carry on this tradition. Document part of 1999 Native American Programs in the College of Agriculture |