Mlafu - 1st Visit

March 10, 2009
Village: Mlafu
Pastor: Daison Mpesa
Companion: Our Saviors, Stillwater
Elevation: 1353 meters
Attendance: 17

This morning Ibrahim, Godwin, Alfred and Roger left at 7:00 for Mlafu. It is about 45 minutes south of Illulu, for a total of about one hour and forty five minutes from Iringa. We left that early because we were afraid of bad roads, especially in the case of rain. The roads were actually quite good, and needless to say we got their early. The pastor Daison Mpesa started there in October of 2008. He is a graduate of Tumaini University, and was ordained on January 2009 at Kihesa.

After a breakfast of mandazis and tea we started the meeting in the church. People arrived throughout the meeting, and by the time we were done there were 17 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

Questions and comments were:
o Pastor Mpesa said that they appreciate the opportunity to have a CVP plot at their parish. People in the parish don’t produce enough food for their families to eat. He hopes that this program will teach his parishioners how to grow more food.
o They asked about organic farming, and why we were recommending using fertilizer and chemicals. We said that if organic farming doesn’t produce enough to feed yourself, how will you get enough to eat?
o They agreed that they are not growing enough to eat.
o Minimum tillage incorporates organic matter just like organic farming
o The average yield in the area is between 2 to 3 bags of corn per acre with a maximum of 5 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.
o They asked out 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, the wrong amount or wrongly apply the fertilizer it can give bad results, but if properly applied fertilizer will increase yields.
o 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 We said we would likely recommend NPK at planting and Urea and CAN at the knee high stage of corn
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 a similar area (Mgongo area or Dabaga area) were similar, and that they should use the recommendations from the parish church at the preaching points.
o They asked what kind of seed will be used in the CVP plot. We said H 628, and they were glad because they were familiar with that seed.
o There were questions about plant spacing:
o They thought our recommendation of 60 cm rows with plants 20 cm apart within a row for corn was too close. We told them that applying fertilizer to seeds and plants close together will increase yields.
o They asked about our recommended spacing for beans. Even though not part of this program they are not planting beans in their own fields.
o We suggested that because they would not be using fertilizer, they plant the beans in rows 50 cm apart and 14 cm apart within the row.
o 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 used by the corn the next year. The beans and corn have different depth of roots, beans are shorter than corn. This way they use different layers of the soil. Crop rotation also helps break the cycle of pests and disease.
o They heard that chemicals used in farming can be harmful to people’s health. We responded that if used at the recommended concentrations there is little chance that they would be harmful to health.
o They asked about using improved varieties of beans. We said yes, that they can and should be using improved varieties of beans. But, they need to plan ahead and get prepared to be sure you have the desired seed when it is time to plant. We also said that is why we are here now, a long time ahead of planting to take soil samples and help them get ready.
o They are looking forward to trying minimum tillage to see how it will work to plant without plowing with oxen.
We adjourned outside for more questions and a demonstration of collecting soil samples. The plot is located right at the church and the soils look to be very good.

Photo link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21557421@N08/sets/72157615035371375/detail/