Kitowo - CVP Visit Report - Aug 28-2012

2010 CVP Companion Village Project 6th Visit Year Two August 28, 2012 Village Kitowo Pastor/Evangelist Hezron Kiswaga Companion First Evangelical Lutheran Church Attendees 05 Weather for the past month Dry Reporters 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: Both corn and beans were harvested and threshed. The yield was as recorded in the table below:- Crop Corn Beans Yield per ½ acres 9 bags (63 tins) 1.4 Bags (10 tins) 3. Storage: We instructed the parishioners on how to store grain for home usage and for selling at the time of high price. We instructed how to mix grain storage pesticide “shumba” and the appropriate volume of grain per bottle recommended. We left the pesticides to them to mix with their harvested grains. 4. Discussion about the farming season: The parishioners thought the corn variety i.e. H628 planted in this season was OK although it rots if rain becomes excessive; therefore, they suggested an alternative variety H 614 if it is available in the market. They suggested “Uyole Njano” for bean seed. They mentioned another bean variety by the name of Sarungi which is not well known to us. Explaining about this year’s yield, they said their harvest was not very good because of the change in weather which happened between January and March adversely affecting crop growth and development which resulted into reduced yield. 5. Adoption: Many village members plant certified corn seed in rows though the spacing used is wider than the spacing used in the demonstration plot. They still have a problem of weeding after harvest; they think weeding after harvesting is not important. They don’t apply as much fertilizer as we do in the demonstration plot. Comments/questions:  We told them to continue adopting the techniques and make use of the knowledge provided through the demonstration plot. We advised them to continue weeding after harvesting to cut off weeds from consuming nutrients from the soil and make the work easier for the coming season.  They are somehow aware of the bee- keeping activity through the knowledge provided by the Catholic nun who is in Pommern running a local organization known as MAWAKI – a development agency for people of Kilolo district; therefore, would appreciate to have such a project in their parish.  They asked for the Microfinance person to visit them because they want to establish a SACCOS. Conclusion They are hard workers and they seem to be interested with farming. They expressed their interest by asking a variety of questions on farming. We answered their questions accordingly.