Mlowa - Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Apple Valley, MN - Oct 31-2011

2009 CVP
Companion Village Project
3rd Visit Year Three
October 31, 2011

Village Mlowa
Pastor Lunogelo Mbwilo
Companion Christus Victor Lutheran, Apple Valley
Attendees 36
Weather for the past month Dry
Reporters Gabriel, Rev. Mangulisa, John and Pongolani

Purpose of the visit
• Delivering seeds and fertilizers
• Demonstrating planting and fertilizer application

Topics
• Greetings
Before we began the demonstration, John delivered greetings from St. Paul Area Synod and US Institute of Ag advisory committee
• Review of the handouts
Together with them we went through the handouts
- 3rd Visit Instruction
- Plant population and Fertilizer applications
- Fertilizer needs template
• Demonstrations
o Planting and fertilizer applications
We demonstrated on how to plant seeds and how to apply fertilizers. We insisted that they should not place seeds and fertilizers together.
o Seeds and fertilizers
The following were delivered
Seeds Fertilizers
Variety Amount (kg) Type Amount (bags)
Pioneer 3253 8 NPK 2

Questions/comments
 Can we also test other drought resistant corn varieties?
Yes you can do that. There other drought resistant corn varieties such as SITUKA, DK8031, SIDICO etc. In the demonstration plot we are testing Pioneer 3253 which is also drought resistant corn variety.
 Some of the bean grains had dots and they were not good for the market
These dots occur if there no enough water to irrigate at the time of the grain filling. Keep on irrigation the bean plots until the maturity has been reached and leave the plants to dry.
 This corn variety has one year only?
Two ear varieties would require higher amount of rainfall or more irrigation water. However what determine higher yield in high plant population. Close spacing and proper fertilizer application will lead into higher yield.

Conclusion
We had big crowd today. We told them that their plot last year had better improvements. We expect more improvements this year. They should follow instructions and manage well the plots.