Idunda-St James Luth-CVP Report for Aug 12, 2011

2011 CVP
CompanionVillage Project
1st 2nd&3rdVisit, Year One
August 12 2011
Village Idunda
Pastor Letson Chusi
Companion St. James Lutheran, Burnsville
Attendees 15
Weather Sunny
Reporters Nafeti, Gabriel, Rev. Mang’ulisa and Pongolani

Idunda is distantly located village from Iringa town and the road condition is not good and is hard to reach during the rainy season. Because of that we were not able to visit them in March for soil sampling and for that reason we decided to use the same fertilizer recommendation as for Kivalamo and Ipalamwa village nearby village. On the way back from Idunda to iringa we had a terrible accident where by our truck collided with another vehicle and thank God no body lost life.

Purposes of the visit
• To introduce the CVP project and measure the plot
• To demonstrate on planting of corn and beans
• To deliver corn seeds, bean seeds and fertilizers

Topics
1. Review of the handouts
• DIRA – Institute of agriculture agreement
• Chronological Plot Management of Crops Planted in November/December 2010
• CVP Instruction – 1st Visit
• 3rd Visit Instruction
• Plant population with 60 cm. rows and Fertilizer application
• Fertilizer needs template
2. Demonstration
Planting and fertilizer applications
They were not able to find the plot around the church but we insisted them to get the plot at the location where people can see and learn. We demonstrated on how to plant and how to apply fertilizers. We insisted that they should not place seeds and fertilizers together. There should be at least 5cm apart. The spacing is 60×20cm for corn and 30×10cm for beans. Fertilizers should be applied to both corn and beans.





2. Delivery
We delivered corn and bean seeds and fertilizers
Item Corn Beans Fertilizers for corn Fertilizers for beans
Variety H6303 Uyole 96 NPK CAN NPK
Amount 4bags 30kg 2 bags 2 bags 2 bags

Comments/question from audience
 Leaving crop residue without burning causes termites problems
We told them the importance of leaving crop residues are: to add nutrients, control soil erosion and build up soil structure. These benefits are more crucial compared to the benefits of burning the residues.
 Bean variety we want to introduce has color that is not familiar in the market
We told them to plant that variety and next year we will provide a different bean variety and the aim is to test different varieties for three years.
 They showed concern on soil testing that we failed to take samples in March
We told them that we decided to use the fertilizer recommendation as for Kivalamo and Ipalamwa because of they are in the same geographical location and hence we hope the parent rocks are having the same nature.
Conclusion
We might make another visit to this area in this year; however this will depend with the road situation. We told them that they should follow instructions on how to handle the demonstration plot.