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FRB Always promise what you can deliver 2014

PENTECOSTAL ASSEMBLIES OF GOD- KATAKWI INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (P.A.G-KIDO)

FRB FOOD SECURITY

CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE TRAINING GUIDE FOR TRAINING FARMERS IN THE PROJECT AREA

FACILITATOR: OPIO GEOFREY

DATE 20TH /01/2014

PREPARED BY: OPIO GEOFREY

DATE AND SIGN; ……………………………………………………

Program officer food security PAG/KIDO

APPROVED BY; SIMON PATRICK OLUPOT.

DATE AND SIGN; ………………………………………………………..

Introduction

He is dedicated to help communities a midlist all the ups and downs cause he is ordained to do that God bless you the user as the bible says; blessed are those who both pass and read his word. Best wishes from Geofrey Opio eswapan itogoi program officer food security PAG/KIDO Amuria field office

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As world population numbers tick ever higher in various parts of the world “Uganda” in specific, Ensuring that food production keeps Pace with the population is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. Large-scale agriculture will provide part of the solution, But smallholder farmers (farmers in developing countries who often have limited land and capital, are poorly linked to markets and are vulnerable to risks). This is expected to play a negative role in feeding the next generations in various parts of the country.Millions of smallholder farmers around the world however, are facing a serious soil fertility crisis due to the poor farming practices they exhibit like mono-cropping, poor rotation systems, tillage practices etc. This has caused most families to suffer from food insecurity due to poor defiled ill harvests from acres of land e.g. 400kgs of maize from one acre (not realistic) fating to malnutrition in most households especially among the vulnerable groups i.e. pregnant, old and children. Hence maintaining and in many cases soil fertility recovering/Recuperation, has become a major challenge facing agricultural professionals and farmers and a number of interventions have been tried by various professionals and farmers but have proved less/least economical. Therefore green manure/cover crops are hoped to provide an effective, locally appropriate and low external- input solution to this crisis. This strategy will help improve livelihoods of some of the world’s most food-insecure people. This will only be possible if the innovation is shared with agriculture development workers and smallholder farmers around the world and majorly Uganda Teso.With this objective in mind, PAG/KIDO Pentecostal Assemblies of God- Katakwi Integrated Development Organization is working hard in her two political districts of Amuria and Katakwi where her programs are localized to make advocacy about the innovation through capacity building through farmer field schools demonstrations and individual household trials by use of locally edible and non-edible green manure cover crops.


Objective(s) of the training manual/training. Create awareness about the use of gm./ccs approach to

soil restoration Promote the use of green manure/cover crops as a way

forward to improving and restoring soil fertility for enhanced food security in Amuria and Katakwi districts.

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Training topics Making farmers understand what soil fertility is. What qualities a good & bad soil has. Understanding the major factor that pre-deposes the soil to erosion

(causes of soil erosion). How have we most farmers tried to address the causes. Making farmers understand what green manure cover crops are. Helping farmers identify some of the common green manure cover crops. Qualities of a good green manure cover crop. Advantages of a green manure cover crop. Decision making by the farmers & setting demonstrations.

Training methodologies. Brain storming. Questions and answers. Group work. Past experience sharing. Hand on practice.

Training materials required. Flip charts. Markers/ manilas Books and pens for participants. 1.0. Making farmers to understand what soil fertility is.

The trainer should fast start by asking the participants what soil fertility is and after receiving their ideas then echo on a profound definition to make the learning environment interactive. Figure; 1 guide.

It’s the ability of a given soil to adequately support plant growth significantly without any lack using its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. This shall be proven by the yield, crop phenotypic appearance, growth habits


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and time frame of its life cycle in comparison with the pre-known one. Take for example maize. It should be in position to sprout and establish in time, have deep green leaves, reasonable and sound stalk size and better resistance and tolerance to opportunistic environmental stresses like pest and disease.2.0. What qualities a good & bad soil has.This is relevant because the farmers will be guided to get to know the situations of their soils and intercept some of the features outlined to make them understand that there is need to style up in the management practices relevant to counteract the evil.

Divide participants into two groups A & B. Let them select their leader who will later present. One group should narrow to identifying the qualities of a good soil then the other discusses the qualities of a bad soil. Later the trainer should level the participant’s attention by echoing the qualities of a good and a bad soil.

Qualities of a good/ fertile soil; Better/improved water holding capacity. Soils with enough organic

matter have enough water holding capacity because it has enough storage for water in comparison to poor soils with less storage space. This is seen when it rains heavily, after a short time the water is no more to support crop growth.

Balance P.H.( Degree of acidity and alkalinity. Soils with enough organic matter have a balance of ions both negative and positive which are key in regulating soil PH. (the trainer should give a comparison when paddy rice is planted on the upland/ or g/nuts is planted on a significantly water logged soil; ask participants to give answers).

Good water infiltration ability. Poor soils always have poor pores which facilitate water entry into the downer layers; this is seen when water roles a way when it rains and vice-versa for good/fertile soils.

Freedom from pests and diseases. Soils are always referred relevant if they are free from any pest and disease. Take for example a soil can be very fertile but with or susceptible to pests, it’s referred to as poor soils.


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Freedom from weed infestation. Like witch weed( striga spps), spear grass (imperata cylindrical) etc. a soil is refered not fertile as yield are always compromised by the weeds and also production costs are always predicted higher than benefits if cost benefit analysis are done by the farmer.

Balance presence of both micro and macro organisms. This is seen physically as they participate in the decomposition exercise. This is possible because the soil has a balanced PH which favors there existence and survival as they always feast on the available organic matter.

3.0. Understanding the major factor that pre-deposes the soil to fertility loss.

This is majorly attributed to our evil deeds that we have done to the soil which shall be discussed here one at a time.

Also under this section the facilitator must first receive suggestions from the participants. Plainly ask them what activities that they majorly do that have seriously pre-deposed their soils to fertility losses. Then level there understanding by stating them a few while outlining the advantages and the disadvantages.

Factors that pre-depose our soils to erosion agents are those activities that we perform either for our benefit in a short run but end up turning ill for the soils. This shall include some of the following. Mono-cropping. This is seen locally as farmers perceive that if one harvested

last season 20 bags of beans in a given piece of land he is again optimistic that in the sub-sequent season he will get the same harvest or more. This has lead soil fertility loss as one crop that calls for the same nutrients is planted yearly ending up depleting the soil of the key nutrients relevant for the different species crop.

Continuous tillage. This also compromises fertility as the soil structure is significantly affected as its disturbed yearly/ seasonally. Consequently also the soil micro and macro organisms are exposed to very un-delicious environment thence there death noting that they are key in the weathering process. Also when the soil texture is destroyed, the soil too becomes very and literally susceptible to erosion agents like wind, water and animals upon exposure.


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Application of in-organic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. These pose a high percentage of advantages in comparison to disadvantages but none the less there demerits are manifested as they help alter the soil PH creating environments totally wild to soil microbes.

Burning of vegetation/clean weeding. When this is cleared, dearly the soil remains bare and naked rendering it 99% vulnerable to erosion agents upon exposure. Our farmers are faithful to burning as a best way of land clearing but proves less relevant as it poses a number of demerits like, destroys vegetation that keeps soil structure firm, makes soils exposed to erosion a gents, the too much heats makes a number of soil microbes retire from existence and finally causes loss of some nutrients through volatilization.

Continuous cropping. This has really happened and still happening inTeso and Uganda at large due to the influence of population pressure as land is not increasing. This forces farmers to cultivate land almost yearly or seasonally. The fate is the depletion of nutrients relevant in the soil as no rest for regaining is offered to the soil (the trainer should bring in an example of a woman who produces yearly without rest for more than 10 years, what is her fate?).

Ploughing at the same depth yearly. This results majorly to the hardening of the downer soil layers resulting in the formation of hard pans which finally impede what infiltration and aeration interfering with the normal existence of soil microbes. Etc. that the farmers may discuss.

4.0. How have we most farmers tried to address the causes.This are measures which most farmers indigenously tried to employ to restore there soils from the sorry states that they are now.

Here the facilitator should prompt the participants to dearly exhaust some of the technologies that they have or not employed to restore there soils. This shall help you identify ill technologies that they have been employing and also helps you to also learn more that you have not been knowing.

To the best of my knowledge and understanding soil management and restoration has been an issue and is still an issue to both our farmers and also to our extension technical staff. So field trials on some of the technologies shall be relevant but keeping on examining their relevance’s in comparison to one another is key but not forgetting the cost implication.He is dedicated to help communities a midlist all the ups and downs cause he is ordained to do that God bless you the user as the bible says; blessed are those who both pass and read his word. Best wishes from Geofrey Opio eswapan itogoi program officer food security PAG/KIDO Amuria field office

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According to my assessment on a number of farmers they have tried the following.

A) - The First Alternative: Purchased inputs like fertilizers from agro-suppliers.

The figure shown tries to show a single farmer whose land had a decreased fertility level but hopes to counteract by using inorganic fertilizer; yes this has a significant impact on yield drastically but it calls for more and more in the subsequent years to sustain productivity, therefore a farmer is likely to be caught in a dilemma when the production costs becomes equivalent or greater to the output. Also there are a lot of implications attached to

their use both on humans and soil life. B) - A Second Alternative: Compost. Preparation from farm refuses.

This also is too of a

advantageous and the demerits according to soil scientists is very minimal but a challenge is posed when the issues concerning its application & preparation are considered in the production schedule. This has an automatic implication on the production cost to a farmer noting that our key interventions are narrowed at the opposite of the mentioned.

C) - A Third Alternative: Animal Manure.


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This also is too of

advantageous and the demerits according to soil scientists are very minimal but a challenge is posed when the issues concerning its application & preparation are considered in the production schedule. This has an automatic implication on the production cost to a farmer noting that our key interventions are narrowed at the opposite of the mentioned.

D) - Other Alternatives: Coffee Pulp, Sugarcane Bagasse

Coffee pulps are of relevance as they contain a number of both micro and macro nutrients key for plant growth. But this too posse very high costs as processing is to be done before they are to be used. But the challenge is that most of the local farmers lack the implements/equipment’s key for the process making this inevitably impossible.


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E) - But all the above call for a lot of investment before impact is realized ( a farmer needs subsequent investment to achieve gains).Therefore for most small farmers, green manure (gm.) and cover crops (cc’s) will be the least expensive way to increase significantly the Organic manure content of their soil.

Making farmers understand what green manure cover crops are.

Before the trainer proceeds, he should first help farmers differentiate between green manures and green manure/cover crops as this can bring a lot of controversies in the course of the discussion for a few informed farmers.

We need to distinguish the term “green manure/cover crops” (gm./ccs) from what a agronomists have traditionally called “green manures”. This can be briefly stated below.Green manure cover crops Green manures

Are planted alone, gm/ccs are usually planted together with farmers’ traditional crops and at about the same time (intercropped), or they are planted among the traditional crops just before these crops are harvested (“relayed” into the traditional crops). Occasionally gm/cc species are even planted under tree crops. In these ways, farmers can fertilize their soil without dedicating any extra land to fertilizers.

They are plants grown in a field or by themselves (they are mono-cropped) and then ploughed into the soil (as one does with “manure”) when they are in the flowering stage, while they are still “green”.


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Second, gm/ccs are almost always cut down after they have produced seeds. This is done because the farmers want to eat the seeds, sell them, or feed them to their animals. And, finally, they typically save at least some of the seeds to plant the next year.

This are always cut down before flowering. This is to not let the crop to lose the relevant nutrients to fruits which always happens after fruiting.

Third, the gm/cc species are almost always cut down and left on top of the soil, rather than being ploughed or dug into the soil. This saves the expense of ploughing or digging them into the soil, and the organic matter on the surface protects the soil from the hot tropical sun

This are cut and ploughed down into the soil to enhance and influence quick aerobic and anaerobic decomposition to easily supply organic manure composite of needed nutrients

Finally smallholder farmers also want the chosen species to do a lot more than just fertilize their soils. One of the most important benefits smallholder farmers want is for the gm/ccs to control weeds. In fact, most farmers in the tropics are considerably more interested in controlling weeds than they are in improving their soil fertility. That is why we have joined the concept of “cover crops” (whose job is to control weeds) with that of “green manures” (whose job is to fertilize the soil).

Therefore a “green manure/cover crop” is a species of plant, usually a legume, whether it is a tree, a bush, a vine, a crawling plant or algae, which is planted by farmers to maintain or improve their soil fertility or control weeds, even when they have many other reasons for growing these plants like food for both livestock and human.


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END.


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