Kilolo Star Vocational - CVP Visit Report - Jan 21-2013

2011 Companion Village Project 3rd Visit, Year Two January 21, 2013 Village Kilolo Star Vocational School Pastor Castor Sanguya Companion Kilolo Star Water Project Attendees 1 Weather for the past month Cloudy Reporters Ibrahim, Roger, Mang’ulisa and Venance Introduction It was one of the unexciting visits where we met only the teacher who supervises the demonstration plot, the students were on vacation and the corn field had more weeds than the corn plants. Many gaps were evident indicating untimely planting of corn which coincided with a dry spell. Purpose of the visit: • To make follow-up on the CVP progress and solve any arising problems; some inputs were delivered earlier. • Demonstrating second fertilizer application and insecticide application Topics covered • Review of the handouts - 3rd Visit Instruction - Plant population and Fertilizer applications • Demonstrations: 2nd Fertilizer application we demonstrated to the only teacher the 2nd application of fertilizer practice and indicated to him the importance of applying insecticide when the plants show signs of pest infestation. • Corn and beans plot The corn plot was full of weeds and fewer plants which were small; a couple of inches above ground. We got the implication that the corn was planted late and was hit by a dry spell at the time of germination. They had not planted beans yet hoping to plant it in February. Deliveries We delivered 2 bags of NPK cereal for 2nd application on corn and one litre of thionex pesticide Comments/Questions There was no question and no comment from the teacher. Conclusion: Plot performance at this school hasn’t been successful since the beginning of the program. Last year the school did not plant corn because they did not prepare land on time and this year they delayed planting. Bean yield last year was average (about 2 bags). We remain skeptic of the future performance of this plot.

Kilolo Star Vocational - CVP Visit Report- Aug 27-2012

2011 CVP Companion Village Project 6th Visit Year One August 27, 2012 Village Kilolo Star Pastor/Evangelist Castor Sanguya Companion Kilolo Star Water Project Attendees 06 Weather for the past month Dry Reporters Pongolan and Venance Purposes of the visit: • To collect yield measurement and 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: The school was late to plant corn this year; the seed and fertilizers were kept for use in the coming season. The school recorded a bean yield of 7tins and 4 liters which is a low yield. 3. Storage: We instructed the attendees on how to store the beans for home usage and for selling at the time of high price. We instructed how to mix storage pesticide “shumba” and the appropriate volume of beans per bottle of the pesticide recommended. We left the pesticide to them to mix with their harvested beans. 4. Discussion about the farming season: The school was in recess, therefore, students were on vacation; the six attendees were members of staff. Four of them had participated fully in attending the demonstration plot, therefore, had some comments about this season’s bean farming. They thought the variety of beans was good for production and tolerant to the rainy weather. However, they said the cooking quality was not very good and thus the market for it was low. They thought they planted the beans a bit late in the season and will try to plant earlier in the coming season. They promised to prepare land for corn early to be able to plant at the right time in the coming season. 5. Adoption: There was no any testimony for adoption of the techniques taught so far. Comments/questions  We encouraged the teachers to practice the good farming methods in their personal plots and teach the students.  They were curious to know if the chemical “shumba “pesticide was not harmful to the users. We cleared their doughty by emphasizing adherence to the instructions provided by the manufacturer and use the chemical carefully.  We advised them to prepare land early so that they can plant corn in the next planting season.

Kilolo Star Vocational CVP Visit Report - May 11-2012

2012 CVP Companion Village Project Visit Report 5th Visit 1st Year May 11, 2012. Village Kilolo Star Pastor Castor Sanguya Companion Kilolo Star Water Project Attendees 57 Weather Dry and cool Reporters Pongolan, Rev. Mangu’lisa and Venance. Purpose of the visit • To explain and demonstrate how to take yield measurement Topics 1. Went through the handouts o 5th Visit handout o Yield recording sheet 2. Demonstrations A 10m row of beans was measured and the number of bean plants counted and recorded on a yield record form. This row was marked by inserting in the soil two sticks; one at the beginning of the row and another at the end of the row. Then, students were taught to repeat the same steps in two other rows of the plot and finally harvest the recorded beans, thresh them, measure and record the volume obtained in liters. They were asked to do the same on a neighboring field for comparison. Plots information It is their first year to have the CVP. They did not plant corn because they did not prepare the plot on time. They had a hard time preparing the same plot for beans because the land had big lumps of soil after plowing and required to be harrowed by tractor. The teacher supervising the plot said he requested for a tractor to harrow the plot but did not get it. However, they managed to harrow by hand. Beans were doing well and expected to harvest average yield. Comments They had followed the spacing between plants and within plants very well. Probably they can’t achieve 100% performance due to some gaps which arose due to failure of germination (they did not do replanting) and death of some plants due to pests and diseases. Also, excessive rain encouraged some fungal and bacterial diseases in many places this year including Kilolo Star. Some bean plants were infected by bean aphids. We asked them if they had applied the insecticide given to them (Thionex 35 EC). They said they sprayed twice, but the aphids could still be seen on some plants. They were advised to continue applying (for future crops) when infestation reappears. Conclusion The school administration should be supportive to the program to make it successiful. The teacher who coordinates the program alone cannot succeed without a strong support from the school administration.

Kilolo Star Vo Trng-CVP Visit Report for Feb 15-2012

Companion Village Project
4th Visit Year 1
February, 15.2012

Village Kilolo Star Vocational School
Coordinator Castor Sanguya
Companion Kilolo Star Water Project
Attendees 35
Weather for the past month Good rainfall amount
Institute Staff Gabriel, Roger and Venance

Purpose of the visit:
1. To review the handouts, 4th visit instructions on how to plant beans taking note of the following points:
• Time to plant; for them, mid-February was OK to plant.
• Spacing; rows should be 30cm apart marked by a straight trench, seeds should be placed 10 cm apart within a row.
• Fertilization; one full bottle cap of fertilizer placed between 2 seeds 5cm away from the seed, then covered with soil.
• Use all fertilizer for the plot. Any remaining fertilizer should be broadcasted within the plot.
• Do not plant other crops with beans.
• Within 1 week after the beginning of germination, replant where seeds have not germinated
2. Demonstrating every step of bean planting practically.
3. Delivering materials which included 2bags of NPK, a litre of Thionex insecticide and a spray pump.
Concusion
Students and teachers asked some questions and all were answered accordingly.
We emphasized that the plot should be harrowed to facilitate easy germination.

Kilolo Star Vo Trng-CVP Visit Report for Nov 24-2011

2011CVP
Companion Village Project
3rd Visit, Year One
November 24, 2011

Collage Kilolo VTC
Manager/Principal Edger Elius Njuyui/Castor Sanguya
Sponsor Ron Reed
Attendees About 20 students and teachers
Weather for the past month Dry
Reporters Gabriel and Don

Purpose
• Delivering seeds and fertilizers
• Demonstrating planting and fertilizer application

Topics
• Greetings
Before we began the demonstration, John delivered greetings from St. Paul Area Synod and US Institute of Ag advisory committee
• Review of the handouts
Together with them we went through the handouts
- 3rd Visit Instruction
- Plant population and Fertilizer applications
- Fertilizer needs template
• Demonstrations
o Planting and fertilizer applications
We demonstrated on how to plant seeds and how to apply fertilizers. We insisted that they should not place seeds and fertilizers together.
o Seeds and fertilizers
The following were delivered
Seeds Fertilizers
Variety Amount (kg) Type Amount (bags)
H614 8 NPK 2
o Rain gauge
We instructed them on how to take the rain records from the rain gauge. Few students tried to read the water level from the rain gauge.
o Crop residues and weeding
Don spoke about the importance of doing weeding and leaving crop residues
Questions/comments
 Why are we recording rainfall?
We what to know the annual rainfall and the trend of rain this area has. Knowing the amount and trend will enable us to know the seeds variety suitable to this area, proper for planting and generally the weather of the village.
 How much yield should we expect from the demonstration plot?
If you follow all the recommended agronomic practices, and you have the expected plant population for corn you should expect to get not less than 5 bags and for beans not less than 4 bags.
Conclusion
Students are enthusiastic about the demonstration plot. They promised to take care of the plots so that they can see the outcome interims of the yields. We told them we expect a good job from them.

Kilolo Star Vo Trng-CVP Visit Report for Oct 18-2011

2011CVP
Companion Village Project
2nd Visit, Year One
October 18, 2011

Collage Kilolo VTC
Manager/Principal Edger Elius Njuyui/Castor Sanguya
Sponsor Ron Reed
Attendees About fifty students and teachers
Weather for the past month Dry
Reporters Gabriel, Rev. Mang’ulisa and Pongolani

Purposes of the visit
• Measuring demonstration plots
• Delivering rain gauge
• Discuss soil analysis results

Topics
1. Review of the handouts
Together with them we went through the handouts
• 2nd Visit Instructions
• DIRA and Institute of Agriculture Village Plot Agreement
• Plot Management FAQs
2. Demonstrations
• Rain gauge
We told them we need to know the annual rainfall record of their area. We instructed them on how to record rain using a rain gauge. One set of rain gauge was handed to them with instructions on how to read and record the data.
• Plots
We went outside of the church and together we measured the 1acre plot using meter tape. We measured two ½ acres plots, one for corn and another one for beans. We insisted them to clean the plot at the time when they wait for seeds and fertilizers.

Questions/ Comments from Audience
 Companion Village program started?
The program was started in 2008 in ten parishes around Iringa Diocese and at the moment the program has more than 40 plots in Parishes and Secondary schools and one Vocational Traning Collage. For those who started in 2008 and 2009 have been experiencing a higher increase in maize yield each year.
 They asked on how to take rainfall data.
Basically you take rainfall data after every 24 hours. Read the level of water then record in the sheet provided. Empty the gauge, then return it in the same position for next yield.

Conclusions/Recommendations
We encouraged them to participate every time when we make visits here so that they can learn all the farming practices we are teaching and take them back home to practice in their own farms.

Kilolo Star Vo Trng-CVP Visit Report for Mar 31-2011

2011 CVP
Companion Village Project
1st Visit, Year One
March 31, 2011

School Kilolo Star Vocational Training Collage
School Manager Edger Elius Njuyui/Castor Sanguya
Sponsor Ron Reed
Attendees About 30 students and 4 teachers
Elevation 1828m
Ag Institute Staff Roger, Gabriel, Nafeti and Rev. Mang’ulisa

In this visit we were accompanied by the Kilolo Parish Pastor, Rev. Yohana Kinganga. We arrived in the school but the students had gone to the area were the demonstration plots were expected to be. After a short delay they gathered in one of the classroom and the demonstration took place.
Purpose of the visit
• Introducing the CV project to the congregation
• Taking the soil samples for soil analysis
• Delivering punching machine, box file and a hand hoe
Topics
1. Introduction
Rev. Lunodzo Mang’ulisa introduced the project. Roger delivered greetings from St.Paul Area Synod. He also talked about the farming practices which will be taught and their benefits in terms of soil fertility increase, moisture retention, addition of organic matter and increase in yields.
2. Handouts
After an introduction, the handouts were distributed to all then together with the participants we went through them.
• CVP Plot record of events
• DIRA – Institute of agriculture agreement
• Chronological Plot Management of Crops Planted in Nov/Dec 2011
• CVP Instruction – 1st Visit
3. Special presentation
Pastor Yohana Kinganga from the Kilolo Lutheran Church gave a very nice presentation about the demonstration plot at his church. He said their plot started in 2008 and it was hard for them to think about doing things in a different way, one that they weren’t used to. That first year, on one half acre where they usually got two bags of corn, by following the CVP techniques they harvested 10 bags. That first year there was drought at the end of the growing season and they were not able to harvest any beans.

The second year they harvested 12 bags of corn and four and a half bags of beans. Usually they harvest two bags of corn and one bag of beans from plots that size. The third year the corn and beans look good and they expect to harvest at least 10 bags of corn and four bags of beans. He said the corn in the demonstration plot is almost two feet higher than the neighbor’s field and looks much healthier. Yohana encouraged the students who were from farming families to take this information home and to use these techniques on their own farm. When Yohana was talking one could see that the students and teachers were paying attention.

4. Soil sampling
After the meeting in the church we went outside. Together with the members of congregation we took soil samples from 4 points around the church. Two types of samples were taken, from 6 inches depth and 12 inches depth. The samples will be taken to the laboratory for soil analysis
Comments/questions from audience
 What is the good fertilizer for bean?
The fertilizers recommended for the bean plot is NPK of 10-18-24. However if it is not available, a famer can use DAP. Usage of cow manure and crop residues is good too because it leads into addition of organic matter in the soil and soil fertility.
 Kilolo Parish Pastor gave his testimony about the Kilolo parish plot and the experience they have concerning the demonstration plot since. He said the plot has enabled them to increase yields in their farms. This year they are expecting good harvest from the plots and from their farms.
Conclusions
We told them that the Kilolo Pastor will be coming to their school to assist them on how to work in the demonstration plots according to the instructions. He will be accompanying us during the demonstration days.