Mwatasi - 4th CVP Visit

Partner: Trinity, Stillwater, Minn.
Pastor: Upendo Ndendya’s
Monday, January 26, 2009
13 people in attendance
Met in the church

Today was a review of what’s happened with the plots, a demonstration of how to make the second application to corn, and how to prepare the rows, plant and fertilize the beans.

The corn was planted on November 28th. They have observed some insects, and we gave them a bottle of Thionex. The corn must be doing fine, because they said that farmers from the community have commented as they have walked past the plot. The plot is located on a fairly steep slope not far away from the church. When we visited the plot the corn was doing fine, a lot better than neighboring fields. It was on average waist high, with some shoulder high.

We brought with us 100 kg of NPK, 100 kg of CAN, 1 bottle of Thionex, 8 kg of Uyole 2003 bean seed, and 8 kg of Uyole Mkt bean seed.

We discussed the importance of weeding regularly, and the fact that lack of weeding can be the greatest deterrent to yield. We also reemphasized the correct weeding technique that is clipping the weeds off just below the surface.

We conducted our survey of plant populations and found that the rows were usually 60 cm apart, some as far as 65 cm. There were on average 12 plants per 300 cm of row or an average of one plant every 25 cm. This plot was one of the most consistent and closest to the plan of 20 cm apart in the row of the plots that we have looked at so far. The attendees were impressed that we placed so much emphasis on the correct spacing of rows and plants within a row. We explained that our goal was to use high plant populations with fertilization to achieve higher yields, but that we needed to be sure that there were high plant populations.

After going through the handout we asked if there were any questions, and when there were none Ibrahim asked if there were any benefits to farmers in the community from our visits and discussions. A number of items were raised:
· How to measure fertilizer, that is two caps per corn seed, etc.
· How far apart to place the corn and bean seeds.
· How far from the seeds to place the fertilizer.
o One attendee said that he had used fertilizer in the past, but that he had placed the seed and the fertilizer in the same hole (Spot), the seed didn’t germinate, and when he dug up the seed it was shriveled up.
o Now he knows how to place the seeds and fertilizer correctly.
· A better understanding of the different types of fertilizer.
· The reason to use CAN vs. Urea.
· They asked about getting soil samples on their farms, and we suggested that they use the results and recommendations from the sample that was taken from the CVP plot.

We demonstrated how to make the second application of fertilizer (CAN) to corn. They are planning on doing it January 28, which is this week. The two caps per plant should be 5 cm away from the corn plant on the uphill and downhill side of the plant.

We discussed and demonstrated how to plant the beans. Because they get a lot of rain in Mwatasi they will plant the beans in March with a plan to harvest in July and August. We marked the hoe at 50 cm and 9 cm and discussed the fact that 9 cm was the width of one’s fist. Ibrahim demonstrated how to clip the weeds and place them in rows 50 cm apart. He then dug a row (trench) with the corner of the hoe and showed how to place the bean seeds 9 cm apart, and then how to place one cap of fertilizer (NPK) between the bean seeds. They said that they usually planted two bean seeds per hole, and that they were 15 cm apart.

Photo link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21557421@N08/sets/72157604580600254/detail/