Mlowa CVP Visit Report - Nov 14-2012

2012 Companion Village Project 3rd Visit, Year Four November 14, 2012 Village Mlowa Parish Pastor Naboth Chaula Companion Christus Victor Lutheran Church Attendees 14 Weather for the past month Hot and Dry Reporters Fred, Pongolan, and Venance Introduction We met a good number of attendees waiting to receive inputs and learn more of the good farming practices in the church building. Unfortunately the village has been hit by drought for a couple of years in a row. We brought a little of rice seeds (10kg) for the parish to try. Purpose of the visit • Delivering seeds and fertilizers • Demonstrating planting and fertilizer application Topics covered • Review of the handouts - 3rd Visit Instruction - Plant population and Fertilizer applications • Demonstrations: Planting and fertilizer applications; The parishioners are in their fourth year of the CVP, therefore they were asked to explain how they can go about planting corn and beans. They were able to demonstrate the exercise of planting corn and beans and fertilizer application quite well. It was insisted that they should not place seeds and fertilizers together to avoid Salt injury. Seeds and fertilizers The following seeds and fertilizers were delivered: Item Corn Beans Fertilizers for corn Fertilizers for beans Variety Pioneer Urafiki NPK cereal NPK winner Amount 4bags 40kg 4 bags 2 bags In addition to the above items, 10 kg of rice seeds were provided to the Parish for planting as a trial to measure its performance. They will plant rice in an area which is irrigated by ditch water available in the village. Comments/Questions Some questions were asked on rice: 1. They wanted to know the importance of incubating rice before planting; the answer provided was to enable quick and even germination before taking seeds to the seedbeds. 2. How long does incubation of rice take place; the answer was it takes 48 – 72 hrs. Conclusion They showed a great interest in learning the farming practices but the harsh weather is a major limiting factor for their farming. However, the Pastor here has just come in and the previous Pastor has been moved away, therefore we are pessimistic on the performance of the CVP for the coming season.