Ipalamwa Parish

Companion Village Project Visit Report 5th Visit 2nd year April 25, 2012. Village Ipalamwa parish Pastor Ajenista Maliga Companion Mount Calvary Lutheran Attendees 8 Weather Cloudy and Misty Reporters Rev. Mangu’lisa, Venance and Pongolani Purpose of the visit • To explain and demonstrate how to take yield measurement Topics 1. Went through the handouts o 5th Visit handout o Yield recording sheet 2. Demonstrations We demonstrated how to measure the 10 m row (in three different locations within the demonstration plot) for the yield determination; this was demonstrated by using a tape measure to get the 10m line, counting & recording the corn plants and ears and marking the lines by breaking the tassels of corn. Plots information Corn looked very good with big ears. It was mature but not yet dry. It will take a month or two to become completely dry for harvesting. The space between lines was maintained at 60cm but somewhat wider than 20cm between plants. Some plants were lodged. According to the Parishioners, the lodging was probably caused by strong wind which blew sometime after ear formation, but could be caused by weak stem too. Their bean plot was planted in two different dates. The part with older plants looked well-spaced but the other part looked widely spaced. All plants were in lines and looked good at leafy stage before flowering. There was no any sign of disease, neither was there any sign of insect damage. Comments High corn yield is expected from their plot. The variety of corn planted this year is likely to be resistant to rotting because the husks cover the ears to the end preventing entry of rain water into the ear. Bean yield cannot be predicted. The Pastor and the Parishioners are hard workers and were eager to learn more on agricultural practices. You could tell by the number of questions they asked. Among many questions they asked, some were suggestions; they wanted Agricultural Institute to teach them on banana growing, propagation techniques of fruit trees particularly avocado and they a asked to be taught about animal husbandry e.g. Goat keeping. Conclusion We encouraged them to maintain the working spirit and the unity they have. It was interesting to see Pastor Mdemu who came from Kimala Parish more than 10km away to attend the teaching. In addition, the Parishioners accepted to take care of the Secondary School CVP plot after the closure of the School. They promised to take care of the school plot until harvest. They appreciate the good performance of their corn plot and they look forward to harvest a good crop this year. They accept the farming practices taught and hope to apply them in their own fields.