Mlowa CVP Visit of Nov 9-09

2009 CVP
3rd visit, November 9th, 2009, YEAR ONE

Village Mlowa Parish
Pastor Lunegelo Mbwilo
Companion Victor Christus
Attendees

Weather for the past month
Reporters
30; 16 female, 14 male ( Including One pastor and Four Evangelists)
Sunny, dry, and just received 13 mm rain on Nov. 6th, 2009
Ibrahim Wikedzi and Fred Bergsrud

We started the meeting with about 25 people and five(5) came a few minutes later, they told us we could have more people but there was a funeral going on in a house about 30 meters from where the church is located.

Purpose of the visit
• Planting and fertilizer application demonstrations
• To deliver seed and fertilizer

Topics
1. Greetings
Fred gave greetings from Saint Paul Area Synod, Victor Christus and US Advisory Committee
2. Review of Handouts
o Fertilizer needs template was filled and left to the box file of the congregation
o Plant population handout was reviewed
o Fertilizer application handout was reviewed
3. Demonstrations
It was demonstrated how to measure inter row spacing (60cm) and intra row spacing (20cm). Using a string and a hand hoe, it was demonstrated how to plant and apply fertilizer. One seed was put after every 20 cm and by using a bottle cap fertilizer was applied 5cm from the seed on each side. We teach them about crop rotation and its importance.

4. Fertilizer and seed delivery
According to the soil analysis of the soil of this area the fertilizer recommended is NPK (10-18-24). The congregation was given 2 NPK bags (each 50 Kg) and 4 bags (each 2 Kg) of seed. They were told to apply this fertilizer at the time of planting, and we recommended corn variety called Pioneer.


Comments/questions from audience
 Comment; One person said, back in those years they used to plant without cultivating.

 They asked if the Pioneer seed will work out in their area, since they use local seeds which need 60 days to mature.
We told them, based on the description of the seed (Pioneer) and trials conducted at the Mgongo farm (Similar weather like Mlowa), we will give them and through demonstration we will see if the seed will work out. We insisted that they need have improved variety (ies) for high yield. We also explained with reference to what happened in the 2008-CVP plots which have almost similar weather with them.

 They asked should they mix CAN and UREA and apply as a second application.
We recommended them not to mix rather apply it separately and in most cases only one kind will be recommended to be used.

 They asked if they can use seeds (yield) that will be obtained from the demonstration plot.
We told them, we are highly advice them to buy new seeds every growing season if they can. If not we told them they can re- use seeds only once.

 They asked how to apply fertilizers and seeds during planting.
We explained that we will demonstrate outside after teaching, so when we got outside we demonstrated and they understood.

 Comment, they have been farming big plots/farms which they can’t manage. So from now they will try farm areas which they can manage such as weeding etc.

 They asked if the soil is fertile do they need use fertilizer.
The answer is yes; sometimes putting recommended fertilizers will give you more yields than not using fertilizers at all. One person said he thought his farm was fertile because he was able to harvest 6 bags per acre but when we told him in other parishes this year (2009) harvested 9-11 bags per half acre, he agreed he should use some fertilizers to increase his yield per acre and also another person made a comment saying that it is true because in the same farm some area will do better than other side of the farm.

Conclusions/Recommendations
We highly recommended them to follow all agronomic practices we are and will be teaching them, and they will see success in their crop production, we referred to other CVP’s like Kilolo, Nduli etc. which harvested 11 bags and 3 tins and 9.5 bags of shelled corn from half acre plot respectively.