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Conrad Bérubé |
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| Farmserve Africa Farmer to Farmer volunteer report Improved maize production through IPM for striga Trip dates june 1 to july 16, 2003Part 1: striga(striga activities conducted from june 17 to july 16, 2003)Conrad Bérubé |
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Striga IPM demonstration plots
By the end of September 2003 all PCF's should present the Striga Control programme to each of their client communities and leave the clients present with a “homework assignment” to determine what percentage of their lands are heavily infested with Striga. (please coordinate with Sammy for technical materials and how to be trained by one of your colleague PCF’s on this subject.)
Farmers can assess the degree of Striga Infestation in fields by counting the number of maize stalks, out of 100, bearing one or more Striga Stems (the number of Striga Stems per stalk need not be recorded) prior to the first weeding (when Striga begins to flower).
| Records should be kept of Striga Infestations. one appropriate means of in-field record keeping is for farmers to place rock cairns, stakes or marked rocks to represent the level of infestation in the north east corner of fields (the direction that the sun rises or in which islamic prayers are made can be used as a reference to which farmers may be acquainted). cairns should be at least a foot tall or composed of marked stones so they can be readily identified and reconstructed if knocked over. (many farmers already practice a form of Juju or charm-magic using marked stones at the corners of fields so this system of record keeping may be more readily adopted than paper records where writing materials are scarce and illiteracy is high.) fields determined to have moderate to high levels of infestation should be put into rotation with a false host (or at least a non-host) or left fallow during, ideally, the next two to three cropping seasons. |
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By the end of September 2003 each PCF should survey at least 50% of co-op members to document the percentage of fields in which host cereals are cropped for more than two successive growing seasons. By the end of November 2006 (and potentially much sooner): for each year covering a period of three years each PCF should generate very simple annual reports on the cropping and harvest history of two 1-acre parcels of land which have been identified as high to moderate Striga Sites for each of 10 client farmers in different communities (use the form at the end of this document). one of the parcels for each farmer should be continuously cropped with either maize or guinea corn (if continuous cropping is still a typical practice in the community). the other 1-acre parcel, in each farmer's case, should be managed under an IPM program that includes at least two (and preferably as many as possible) of the following components in the first two (non-host) years of field management:
| V | No burning, | |
| V | Fallowing, | |
| V | Crop rotation with a false host, | |
| V | Crop rotation with soybean (or other crops if they become available) bred for enhanced false-host properties, | |
| V | Manuring or fertilizing, | |
| V | Multiple weedings. |
In the field being managed with "new" Striga Reduction tactics at least three of the following practices should be implemented during the season of maize production:
| V | No burning, |  |
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| V | Manuring or fertilizing, | ||
| V | Multiple weedings, | ||
| V | Seed-corn washing or off-site drying of seed-corn, | ||
| V | Early planting of maize, | ||
| V | The use of Striga Resistant maize, | ||
| V | Intercropping with non-hosts (preferably legumes with false-host properties. |
As was done during the field day, it may be possible for PCF's to generate such reports well ahead of the 2006 target dates by simply polling 10 farmers with good memories or who already employ some type of record keeping. the purpose of these reports is simply to document the validity of the IPM tactics in the communities involved-- the ultimate project objectives are contingent upon farmers implementing these tactics on a greater proportion of land than is currently the case. once current practices are documented then future progress can be properly assessed. again, the ultimate goal of the project is to increase income generated on land currently supporting maize continuously-cropped for two consecutive years or more by at least 50% through the reduction of harvest losses attributable to Striga. indicators that this goal may be met are:
| V | completing presentation of Striga Control programme picture-facilitated dialog in 80% of client communities by September 2003 (with presentations in remaining communities by may of 2004) | |
| V | Reducing baseline levels of continuously cropped corn by 50% within two years of compiling baseline data (i.e. By june 2004 at the earliest or june 2008, at the latest) by increasing the incidence of fallowing or crop rotation; | |
| V | introducing Striga resistant maize into 10 communities by june of 2004; | |
| V | Introducing soybeans enhanced for Striga Trap-crop properties into 10 communities by june of 2004. |
Care must be taken when dispensing any agricultural recommendations because conditions may vary from the area in which seed was developed and can seriously impact expected results. for instance, seeds resistant to striga may not do well under local growing conditions or may be subject to local maladies and thus do no better or may even fare worse than locally available seed. demonstration plots are a good way for farmer to see actual results before committing their own resources to undertake recommended practices.
Pcf's for the local areas should co-ordinate with one or more of their local farmers who fulfill the following conditions:
| V | Are willing to volunteer land/records, | ||
| V | Had a field that was badly infested with striga and have rotated out of maize within the past two seasons, | ||
| V | since rotating out of maize only pure stands of the following crops have been planted: | ||
| O | Cotton | ||
| O | Soybean | ||
| O | Cowpea | ||
| O | Pigeon pea | ||
| O | Bambara bean | ||
| O | Groundnut | ||
| V | Have reliable records of past yields for both maize and rotation crops, | ||
| V | Rotation crop fields should adjoin or be within a short distance of fields where continuous cropping of maize has occurred or will occur. | ||
Striga IPM demonstration plots
Annual reports on cropping and harvest history
Instructions: please complete 1 form for each of 10 farmers participating in the use of improved seed (either Striga resistant maize or soybean enhanced for false-host characteristics). when completed please deliver to the farmer-to-farmer coordinator (Sammy).
Pcf completing the form:
Participating farmer:
Field 1(maize—no rotation) |
Year 1:________Crop: Maize Yield from Field 1: Bags Cedis |
Field 2(rotation) |
Year 1:________ Crop:
Yield from Field 2: Bags Cedis |
Field 1(maize—no rotation) |
Year 2:________Crop: Maize Yield from Field 1: Bags Cedis |
Field 2(rotation) |
Year 2:________ Crop:
Yield from Field 2: Bags Cedis |
Field 1(maize—no rotation) |
Year 3:________Crop: Maize Yield from Field 1: Bags Cedis |
Field 2aLocal maize |
Year 3:________ Crop: Local maize Yield from Field 2a: Bags Cedis |
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Field 2bStriga-resistant maize |
Crop: Striga-resistant maize Yield from Field 2b: Bags Cedis |
For more information on the farmer-to-farmer program write to
Farmserve Africa Program
OIC International 240 West Tulpehocken Street
Philadelphia, PA 19144
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