Mkimbize - 1st Visit

March 11, 2009
Village: Mkimbize
Pastor: Ambrose Mwakikoti
Associate Pastor: Martin Haulle
Companion: Immanuel Lutheran Church, St. Paul
Elevation: 1610 meters

This morning we drove to Mkimbizi, an urban parish in Iringa not far from Tumaini. We were told that most of the members from Mkimbize work in offices in Iringa and would not be available for the meeting. A thought for future meetings with urban parishes is whether the meetings should be held on Saturday. Even though they work in town, many parishioners have small farms where they grow crops to supplement their income and provide food for their families. The people in this parish don’t rely only on farming for their income and food, but there was still interest in learning new farming techniques.

After tea we started the meeting in the church. People arrived throughout the meeting, but by the time we were done there were 15 attendees. After a brief introduction, Ibrahim went through the handouts:
1. DIRA – Institute of Agriculture Village Plot Agreement
2. Plot Management
3. Chronological Plot Management of Crops Planted in December of 2009
4. Frequently Asked Questions
5. Record of Events

Comments and questions were:
· Pastor Ambrose Mwakikoti said that he was thankful for the CVP program. He said that usually the parish is asking members to give of their resources to support the church; this program is a chance for the church to give back to its members.
· The average yield in the area is between 5 to 7 bags of corn per acre with a maximum of 10 bags per acre. They were excited to learn that using the techniques from the CVP program at Mgongo we were able to harvest over 15 bags per acre. Because they have better soil and more moisture than Mgongo they can expect to get even better yields.
· They asked us about using fertilizer; their experience is that fertilizer is detrimental to the soil and the plants. Ibrahim responded that just like medicine, if one took all the pills they received from a doctor at once they would likely get sick and could kill themselves. But if you took the medicine as prescribed one would get well. If you use the wrong fertilizer, if you use the wrong amount, or if you wrongly apply the fertilizer it can give bad results, but if properly applied fertilizer will increase yields.
· Other fertilizer questions:
o They asked about the kind of fertilizer we were recommending and when to apply it
o We said that we needed to wait until the results of the soil test were done
o They know about NPK and Urea
o We said we would likely recommend NPK at planting and Urea or CAN at the knee high stage of corn. This us usually 50 to 60 days after planting.
· Questions about soil samples:
o They asked why we took soil samples at two depths. One foot is as deep as the roots go. The shorter rooted plants such as beans have roots that go about six inches deep, while corn has roots that go about 12 inches deep.
o They asked if the soil samples taken at the parish church would apply to the preaching points also. We told them that based on last year’s soil analysis, soils in the general area (Mgongo area or Dabaga area) were similar.
· They wondered why we were coming in March when they don’t usually plant till December. After the presentation he said he understood why we came now to take soil samples and to teach the improved techniques so that everything would be ready when it came time to plant in December. He said usually when it comes time to plant people are scurrying around trying to figure out what to do, with this program you are teaching us how to plan ahead.
· There were questions about using manure.
o We said that they may still need to use fertilizer that it would depend on the quality of the manure.
o Manure is usually high in nitrogen (N), but low in phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
o They asked how much should be applied. We said that unless you use a truck to haul the manure, you should put as much as you can.
· They asked what kind of seed will be used in the CVP plot. We said Pioneer, and they were glad because they were familiar with that seed.
· There were questions about plant spacing:
o Will the spacing recommendations be the same for long and short corn? We answered yes.
o They have been planting in rows that are 80 t0 90 cm apart.
o We said we wanted residue put in rows 60 cm apart so that corn could then be planted between the residue rows that are 60 cm apart.
· They asked questions about why we recommend crop rotation. We said we wanted to switch between a legume (beans) and a non legume (corn). The legumes fix nitrogen in the soil that is a help for the corn the next year. The beans and corn have different length of roots, beans are shorter than corn. This way they use different layers of the soil.
· Question about if we don’t burn will diseases and pest be present in the crop. Not burning allows organic matter to build up in the soil which helps hold moisture and nutrients. We said that growing corn every year will allow diseases and pests to flourish. Crop rotation helps break the cycle of pests and disease.
· There were questions about intercropping:
o We recommend growing only one crop at a time
o They agreed that the plot would be easier to weed
o They have experienced higher yields when growing only one crop at a time
· They have been planting two seeds per hill to keep the rodents from eating all the seed. We asked if they were able to train the rodents to eat just one seed from each hill they dug up (laughter). We said that instead of planting two seeds per hill they should replant areas where the seeds were eaten or did not germinate. That is another reason why it is important to keep good records so that seven days after planting one can check emergence and replant where the seeds didn’t come up.

The plot is located at one of the preaching points (Kihesa-Kilolo) located a little ways north of Mkimbize just west of the main road to Nduli. The church at this preaching point is under construction, but from the looks of it, it will be a pretty big church. The pastors said that parishioners from this preaching point spend more time farming than those from the other two preaching points.

Photo link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21557421@N08/sets/72157615073666921/detail/