OCEANSIDE — The San Diego County Farm Bureau has named Oceanside resident Mary Matava, who has been involved in the region’s agriculture industry for 45 years, the 2022 Farmer of the Year.
As an agronomist and leading expert in soil assessment and amendments, green waste recycling, facility management and avocado farming, Matava has spent much of her career studying local soils to determine what kind of nutrients are present and beneficial for crops while also finding more efficient ways to use water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“I have a soil testing laboratory that allowed me to really study our local soils to see what kind of nutrients we have here, which is how I got involved in the composting business,” Matava said.
Matava owns Agri Service and operates the El Corazon Compost Facility in Oceanside, which prevents organic waste from going to landfills, where it creates methane emissions.
“Landfills are the biggest urban producers of methane,” Matava said.
The compost facility converts the organic waste to fertilizer for local farms, processing about 300 tons of compost daily and supplying fertilizer for approximately 2,000 acres annually. Overall, the compost facility has processed approximately 2.5 million tons of compost.
Matava also uses her facility’s compost on her farm in South Morro Hills, where she grows six varieties of avocados. There, she studies which avocados grow best in a high-density planting environment.
“We want avocados that can grow in a high-density environment versus how they’re usually grown because it’s a better use of water and carbon capturing,” she said. “The real benefit of avocado trees is that they sequester much carbon dioxide.”
So far, the Kona Sharwil and Reed avocado varieties are performing the best under Matava’s margins.
Matava’s interest in soils stemmed from a fascination with growing food.
“Growing up in the ’70s, we talked a lot about population increases, and I became fascinated by the question of how do we grow enough food to feed an exponentially growing population,” Matava said. “That led me to study soil chemistry.”
Over the past few decades, her focus on soil mixed with the challenge of mitigating the effects of pollution and climate change.
“If you can sequester carbon and produce food simultaneously, that’s a double win,” she said.
Matava is one of more than 5,000 farmers in San Diego County. She previously served as president of the San Diego County Farmers Bureau.
Neil Nagata, the previous recipient of the Escondido-based nonprofit’s top farmer honor, is also from Oceanside.
Matava will be recognized during a celebration on Sept. 7 at Bernardo Winery, 13330 Paseo Del Verano Norte, San Diego, CA, 92128.
