Irindi - CVP Visit Report - May 14-2012

2012 CVP Companion Village Project Visit Report 5th Visit 2nd Year May 14, 2012. Village Irindi Parish Pastor Alex Kikoti Companion St. Timothy Lutheran Church Attendees 11 Weather Dry and warm Reporters Rev. Mangu’lisa, Pongolani and Venance. The original purpose of the visit was to explain and demonstrate how to take yield measurement, but turned out to be; to seek for their opinion on what to grow there after a total failure of corn and beans. Topics 1. Discussion on the cereal cop which can be grown instead of corn and the alternative crop to beans. Observation: Upon arrival to Irindi village, we noticed a total failure of corn among all villagers. Corn straws without ears were scarcely seen in patches along the sides of the road leading to the church and the Pastor’s house. The Pastor and the members of the church showed us a plastic bag containing about 2 bucketfull (about 40kg) of corn. The Parishioners said that was all they could harvest from their half- an acre they had cultivated as a demonstration plot. From the rainfall data recorded by the Parish and kept in the CVP box file, we could learn that the village received too small amount of rain to support corn and beans crops growth and development up to maturity. The village received a little rain in December and January. There was no rain at all in February, and that’s when the corn plants which were growing vigorously dried up. Discussion: After observing the problem, we discussed with the parishioners to get their opinions on what they thought could be the solutions. Before giving out their solutions, they conveyed their sincere gratitude to their sponsoring congregation of St. Timothy Lutheran Church for accepting to sponsor their plot. They requested the sponsoring congregation not to get disappointed by the failure of performance which was caused by a factor out of their capacity and instead continue to sponsor them in an attempt to produce different crops. They wanted the Agriculture Institute at Tumaini University and the Sponsoring congregation to consider them in the cultivation of Paddy and sesame instead of corn and beans. Reasons for Paddy and Sesame (Simsim) Paddy for seedlings can be sown in November 10 – 15 and be ready for transplanting in the beginning of December when the rain starts. Paddy plants will remain irrigated from a river at Mdahila which is only 4.5km from the church. The dry spell in February will have no effect on the growing paddy because it will be water fed from the river. Returning of the rain in March will continue to support the growing Paddy until April after which no more rain is needed because the Paddy will be approaching maturity. Sesame is drought resistant; therefore it should be able to utilize the little amount of rain that is available. Comments We understood their point and saw the viability of their suggested alternatives, thus took the matter to Agriculture Institute for consideration. Conclusion We bring forward their request for your comment. We learned out that the Parishioners are determined to work hard, unfortunately they were let down by the weather problem. You could tell their commitment by their attendance despite the failure of the crops and the opinions they raised.