College of Agriculture, University of Arizona,
Arizona Land and People, Vol. 47, Number 2
A New Enterprise for Fort McDowell"I learned about crops at school and took that knowledge back home. With our tribal water settlement, we are now able to farm our 2,000 acres. It's still a learning experience," said Clinton Pattea. The former president of Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Indian Community at Fountain Hills noted his community's progress in agriculture with great pride when he was honored by the Southwest Indian Agricultural Association. They have every reason for their pride, says Michael Kilby, UA tree fruit, nut and vine Cooperative Extension specialist. He started working with Fort McDowell at the planning stage. "Basically they decided pecans and citrus trees would be feasible crops." In three years, they planted 600 acres of pecans and 300 acres of lemons, navel oranges and grapefruit. It will be another five years before commercial pecan production begins, but they should have a limited lemon crop next year, says Michael Maurer, UA area extension agent for fruit crops. Thanks in large part to careful cultural practices, the pecans are growing very well, but they've had to take care of problems along the way. The soil has too much natural boron, which is toxic to pecans. The "cure" is additional water applied below the root zone to leach out the boron. "This is where I get into the picture," says Kilby. "I make sure training workshops are available when and where they're needed." "Basically, we're here to provide help and guidance so they can make good decisions based on what they want to do," Maurer agrees. Document part of 1999 Native American Programs in the College of Agriculture |