Kitasengwa CVP Visit Report - July 31-2012

20121 CVP Companion Village Project 6th Visit Year Two July 31st, 2012 Village Kitasengwa Pastor Aloyce Mwagogo Companion Raquet Family Foundation Attendees 09 Weather for the past month Dry Reporters Gabriel, Pongolan and Venance Purposes of the visit • To collect the yield measurement • To deliver grain storage chemical “Shumba” • End of season discussion and planning for the next farming season Topics 1. Review of the handouts • 6th Visit instruction handout • Yield recording sheet 2. Harvesting Both corn and beans have been harvested. The yield of both was very little. Kitasengwa village just like Ifunda village have got a problem of soil. They have shallow subsoil which lacks the organic matter. The yield obtained was as presented in the table below: Crop Corn Beans Yield per ½ acres 2.3 bags (14tins) 1.3 tins(8 tins) 3. Storage: We instructed the parishioners on how to store grain for home usage and for selling at the time of high price. We instructed how to mix grain storage pesticides “shumba” and the appropriate volume of grain per bottle recommended. We left the pesticides to them to mix with their harvested grains. 4. Discussion about the farming season: As mentioned above, the parish recorded little yield of both corn and beans. The shallow soil lacks natural fertility and does not support high productivity of crops. The parishioners had an idea of moving the plot far away from the church area to a place with better soil. They claimed of bush rabbits eating bean plants from the plot. The decision to move the plot away is expected to solve this problem as well. 5. Adoption A few people adopted some techniques and their plots performed better than before. We saw two corn plots which adopted the spacing on the way to the church. Comments/questions  The corn variety planted was commented as good. The bean variety “uyole njano” was noted as appropriate for consumption and is highly marketable. Conclusion We encouraged them to adopt the techniques taught. The Pastor and Parish members were optimistic of doing better after they move the plot to a better soil plot.