Pommern Secondary School -CVP Visit Report - Aug 22-2012

2011 CVP Companion Village Project 6th Visit Year Two August 22, 2012 Village Pommern Secondary School Pastor Haran Ngede Companion Faith Lutheran Church Attendees 03 Weather for the past month Dry and warm Reporters Rev.Mangu’lisa, 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 The yield was as recorded below Crop Corn Beans Yield in ½ acre 16 bags - As can be seen in the table above, only corn was harvested and there was total failure of bean production. According to the headmaster, corn harvest was 16 bags in half an acre which is the highest so far recorded this year. The bags of corn were already put together with the bulky of all the school harvest which were more than 100bags harvested this year. Contrary to the corn production, there was no any bean harvest. When we asked him he said they went wrong in timing the season for bean planting and planted the beans under eucalyptus tree which affected the crop. 3. Storage: We instructed how to mix grain storage pesticides “shumba” and the appropriate volume of grain per bottle recommended. We left the pesticides for the school to mix with their harvested grains. 4. Discussion about the farming season: As mentioned above, the school recorded the highest yield of corn but did not harvest any beans. The soil at Pommern Secondary School has the potential to attain high yield if the plot is well managed. The teacher who supervised the corn plot managed it well but did not plan well the bean plot. When we talked to the headmaster he had a positive idea for the coming season. He thought of dividing the whole school field into two halves so that they can plant one half with corn and plant beans in the other half. 5. Adoption We did not get any evidence of adoption yet. We expect adoption to take place in the coming season after learning from the school’s good corn performance. Comments/questions  We encouraged the school to implement the idea of the headmaster of dividing the school field into two halves so that they plant corn in one half and bean in the other half; and then they can rotate the crops and practice the techniques taught by the Institute of Agriculture  The corn variety is good; the same variety should be brought for planting in the coming season. Conclusion We advised the school to observe the planting time for beans and move the bean plot from under the tree to open site. We cautioned them that crops planted under trees do not perform; therefore, they must avoid cropping under trees.