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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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Extension materials and on-site training
Coordination with other FtF projects
Monitoring: quantitative assessment of striga infestation for seed load
Monitoring: quantitative assessment of striga infestation for stems
Supplemental extension/education materials
Expanding on-site training dialogs and baseline data collection
Problems and suggestions related to completion of FtF program objectives:
In june of 2003 I returned for my second assignment as a farmer-to-farmer (FtF) volunteer for Ghana in the farm serve Africa program. the host agency, opportunities industrialization center of Tamale (oict) is a non-governmental organization (ngo) that, amongst other programs, administers an integrated program for food security. the program provides technical assistance in production, processing, post-harvest loss reduction, micro-credit/micro enterprise development and water and sanitation training. the financing framework is a rotary credit system in which funding or materials are supplied to villagers as a loan; when project objectives come to fruition the value of inputs from OICT is repaid and goes back into the credit fund.
I worked on two separate projects on my trip: a beekeeping development project and a project to develop an integrated pest management (ipm) program for Striga; this report covers only the Striga IPM portion of the trip (see Beekeeping_june2003_FtF_trip_report.htm for details of the beekeeping Project. the primary objective of the Striga project was to assess the prevalence of the weed problem and to develop an IPM program for the control of the parasitic weed, Striga Hermonthica, which is an economic pest of cereal crops, especially maize. field visits were made to 10 client communities and, in all, 262 men and 27 women received on-site training in multiple IPM tactics for the control of Striga. the assessment/training visits were followed by a 1-day short-course held in Kpugi which was attended by 60 client farmers. one of the most notable results realized during the project was the identification of plots serving to demonstrate the benefit of incorporating leguminous trap crops into rotation schemes.
In addition to site visits and the field day, the following activities were undertaken:
Future activities should focus on accumulating background material, expanding the Striga IPM training into other communities (if necessary), implementing training recommendations, acquiring and disseminating improved seed for production and propagation, monitoring yields and providing continuing guidance with respect to technical concerns.
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(from left bottom, clockwise) Conrad Bérubé, Haruna Ayuba, Samuel Arku-Kelly, Ose Roberts and client farmers participated in training sessions both in the field and at a 1-day short-course held in Kpugi. |
The goal of the program, as stated in the project background form provided to me, is to increase by 50% the yields of 50 small-scale maize farmers in the gushiegu/karaga farming community by mitigating the negative impact of the parasitic weed Striga Hermonthica. the specific indicators proposed for the program were the expectation that:
| V | 10 test plots would be established on Striga control, | |
| V | 50 farmers would increase yield of maize from 5 bags to 8 bags per acre by October 2002, | |
| V |
50 farmers would acquire and use skills in integrated pest management in the control of Striga by October 2002 to increase yields of maize plots. |
Because there was considerable delay between the writing of
the original request by the community and OICT and my placement in the volunteer
position, timelines should be adjusted accordingly. in addition I recommend
that the goal of the project should be amended to be:
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By October 2005, on land currently supporting maize continuously-cropped for two consecutive years, increase by 50% the yields of 50 small-scale maize (corn) farmers in the gushiegu/karaga farming community or more (by reducing harvest losses attributable to Striga). |
The specific objectives of my visit were to:
| V | Meet with 50 farmers, principally from the suhiyini maize growers association, to attempt to determine levels of Striga infestation in various communities of the gushiegu/karaga district of the northern region of Ghana, | |
| V | Discuss perceptions about the ultimate causes of Striga infestation, | |
| V | Discuss when correcting the situation would be warranted and what would be appropriate strategies, | |
| V | Implement strategies growing out of discussions on at least two demonstration plots, | |
| V | Conduct 2 field days with at least 50 farmers to demonstrate practices associated with core Striga management strategies, | |
| V | Develop criteria and protocols for evaluating effectiveness of program activities, | |
| V | Assess current farmer practices to control or manage the parasitic weed Striga, | |
| V | Develop a plan for test plot establishment, | |
| V | Identify good quality seed for production, | |
| V | Prepare reference material on the effective control of Striga for use by association members and other relevant agencies. |
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(From far right top, clockwise) Striga gesnerioides on cowpea; Striga hermonthica on maize; close up of Striga hermonthica attached to the roots of a maize plant. |
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Striga spp. Are parasitic weeds that can infest
certain crops, particularly cereals. these plant-parasites have specialized
root systems that are incapable of supporting their own water and nutrient needs
through the usual means of absorption of soil solutes; instead the root tissue
of Striga is adapted to splicing into the root system of host plants
and to feed on these host plants much in the same way that guinea worms or malarial
parasites absorb nutrients from human hosts. in the same way that animal parasites
are adapted to particular targets, a particular Striga Species can survive
only on a relatively narrow range of hosts. Striga hermonthica probably
evolved as a parasite of guinea corn (called sorghum in north america), which
is native to Africa; but Striga hermonthica is also able to successfully,
and more dramatically, parasitize maize. (very likely, over the centuries since
maize was first introduced from the new world, Striga Has been selected
for characteristics improving its ability to parasitize corn). heavy infestations
of Striga Can reduce yields by 80%, severely impacting income and food
stores of affected farmers.
Striga Infestations are symptomatic of nutrient-deficient soils-- nitrogen deficiency being the overarching determinant in predisposing a site to Striga. the abundance of Striga Seed in the soil also depends, of course, on the duration and/or severity of previous infestation. the keystones of Striga Management, therefore, are to develop soil/crop conditions that favour healthy crop plants and to reduce Striga Seed stores in the soil.
Possible tactics for favouring maize are:
| V | Early planting |  |
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| V | No burning | ||
| V | Soil manuring | ||
| V | Crop rotations that include non-hosts or false hosts | ||
| V | Intercropping with resistant crops | ||
| V | Improved fallowing involving sowing non-crop, false host species adapted to local soil conditions | ||
| V | Hand pulling of Striga | ||
| V | Biological (microbial) limitation of Striga | ||
| V |
Use of herbicides |
Most likely because it provides advantages during seasons of inconsistent growing conditions Striga Has evolved a strategy of staggered seed germination-- not all seed in the soil begins growing at the same time. however, the majority of Striga Seed will germinate only after a succession of heavy rains has soaked the seeds. this leads to recommendations for two tactics that can be worked into an IPM program:
| V | Early planting: early planting of host cereals allows crop plants to develop sufficiently such that crops can better tolerate attack from Striga | |
| V |
Staggered weeding: many farmers are accustomed to weeding only once per season. at the very least seeding should be delayed until the first flowers of Striga Appear (but before the seed heads mature). ideally subsequent weedings should occur whenever mature Striga Flower heads begin to appear-- even if this follows harvest. early planting is, in effect, simply another means of inducing host tolerance (see above) and should only be undertaken along with multiple sessions of weeding. |
The applicability of other IPM tactics is discussed below in connection with associated project activities.
Project activities were conducted primarily with the suhiyini maize growers association (smga) in the gushiegu/karaga district, a collection of community-based, co-op groups engaged in maize production for subsistence and as a cash crop. each member farmer produces about 5 bags of maize per hectare (as noted above, for the purposes of the Striga control program, baseline data should focus on production values for areas that have been under continuous maize cropping for two years or more). we visited 10 communities between june 17 and june 27, 2003 to conduct qualitative assessments of the impact of Striga and to provide basic training for Striga control. I was accompanied for several days by technical officer, Samuel Arku-Kelly and polycovalent community facilitator (PCF) Ose kofi Roberts and then, for the remainder of field visits by PCF Haruna Ayuba -- who provided invaluable translation skills as well as useful technical acumen. (the assistance and perseverance of our driver siibu abdu-karim was also crucial to the successful completion of project objectives.)
One of the objectives of the project was to provide extension/dissemination materials for the management of Striga. an excellent resource already exists in "controlling Striga As a means for raising soil fertility" which can be downloaded from http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/~www380/parasite/manscpnr.htm (see Striga-appendix_a_script.htm and Striga-appendix_b-mini-flipcharts_drawings.htm). these materials consist of a set of mini-flipcharts and associated script of questions and information developed by the german technical cooperation and the university of hohenheim (principally petra feil, klaus hummler and stefan kachelreiss) in north eastern Ghana in the late 1990’s. The materials are an excellent system for conveying to relatively large groups in village meeting places the basics around the identification and appropriate control measures for Striga in maize and guinea corn. we used the presentation materials at village meetings conducted as dialogs designed to determine whether Striga was, in fact, a problem in a particular area and to convey basic methods to combat infestations. the “controlling Striga” materials were supplemented with actual specimens and a set of survey questions (see striga-appendix_d-field_notes.htm). from the dialogs it was apparent that in the preponderance of communities Striga is a severe hindrance to maize production—however because of the timing of my trip it was not possible to quantitatively monitor the level of infestations (in most sites Striga was only just beginning to emerge above ground in fields where early planting had been conducted).
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Farmers display a set of illustrations from "controlling striga as a means for raising soil fertility" which formed a key component of dialogs/training held at villages in the gushiegu/karaga district. the enlarged illustration shows striga hermonthica. |
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In all visited communities, farmers recognized Striga As a serious problem and were already practicing, at least to a minor degree, the most appropriate means of Striga Management (fallowing, hand weeding, rotation/trap cropping-- although most farmers were not explicitly aware of the technical details of trap-cropping]). field visits confirmed significant stunting, chlorosis and reduced yields attributable to Striga. in addition, farmers offered the following observations:
| V | Locally Striga is referred to as 'bocha' or to a lesser extent 'wablum' and, in one community, ‘Ulule’. | |
| V | farmers claim that the form of Striga Changes in swampy areas where rice is grown. this may represent a physiological response of the weed to damp growing conditions or, more seriously, may indicate that another species of Striga (Striga Asiatica?) may have been introduced to Ghana. | |
| V |
The farmers of some communities also relate that burning striga drives mosquitoes out of the house. |
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Village wisdom indicates that the smoke from burning striga can drive mosquitoes from huts. if true, this would be a welcome benefit as malaria is very prevalent in the area. this would serve as a useful byproduct of the multiple weedings recommended for striga control. (the illustration is one of a number that I created to supplement "controlling striga as a means for raising soil fertility".) |
In most cases farmers only refrain from planting cereals when yields are severely reduced-- but currently do not have a good means of gauging how severely a crop will be impacted. a predictive indicator of the potential for Striga Infestation would be a useful management tool. such a monitoring process would allow farmers to easily assess/identify what fields held a dangerously high Striga Seed load that would precipitate a crop rotation as an alternative to an intolerable crop failure. literature and internet searches yielded no information regarding monitoring techniques. Striga seedlings were only just starting to emerge above ground during my visit so there was no opportunity to develop monitoring regimes to correlate with productivity but proposed protocols for doing so appear in the “follow-up section”.
Prior to my arrival in Ghana I contacted a number of institutions
in an attempt to locate resistant seed sources and other Striga management
materials. while in Ghana I similarly contacted a number of agencies with the
same objectives. (i am presenting below full contact information in spite of
the fact that some of the resources, as indicated, are not tactics that I believe
should be pursued with OICT clients.)
The following institutions indicated that they can provide resistant seed or Striga Management resources:
Striga-tolerant seed of guinea corn is available from:
Dr. Gebisa ejeta
weed scientist, sorghum genetics and breeding
Purdue university
Department of agronomy
Lilly hall of life sciences
915 w. State street
west lafayette, indiana 47907-2054
Telephone: 765-494-4320; fax: 765-496-2926
Tolerance is the ability of an organism to withstand attack or competition from some inhibitory influence that normally adversely impacts non-tolerant organisms. in the case of Striga Infestation, tolerant hosts can withstand much greater abundance of Striga Than can non-tolerant varieties. given the cropping practices in northern Ghana, where maize is usually cropped on fields where sorghum has previously been planted, It is my recommendation that it is inadvisable to promote tolerant crops (as opposed to resistant crops) as a component of Striga Ipm. tolerant crops can lead to increased Striga Infestations, and hence greater Striga Seed loads in soil, which can lead to devastating impacts on maize sown in fields with such infestations.
Fusarium oxysporum m12-4a is available from:
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Dr. Alan watson watson@macdonald.mcgill.ca |
Dr. C. Diarra |
The fungus, Fusarium oxysporum, is antagonistic to Striga. of those variants that have thus far been field tested, the malian strain (isolate m12-4a) is the most virulent/efficacious. however, it is not currently available in a commercial formulation. dr. watson indicates that Ghanaian strains of F. Oxysporum are also antagonistic to Striga But are not as potent as the mali strain that has been selected for further development as a bio-control agent. It is worth considering contacting drs. watson or diarra to see if they or one of their graduate students (who are usually the ones who really know the nuts-and-bolts of operational practice) might be interested in serving as an FtF volunteer to work with local Pito or beer brewers to develop a cottage industry for brewing fungal inoculant for local use. (as dr. Diarra is likely not a u.s. Citizen he might not qualify for FtF funding.)
Maize that is resistant to imazapyr (an herbicide effective in the treatment of Striga) is available from:
| Fred kanampiu, agronomist Cimmyt-kenya (Centro internacional de mejoramiento de maiz y trigo [international maize and wheat improvement center]) Po box 25171 00603- nairobi, kenya; 00603- nairobi, kenya; phone: 254-2-524600; fax:254-522879 cimmyt-kenya@cgiar.org |
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| Although apparently an effective tactic herbicide/herbicide-resistant maize has the potential to make farmers dependent on costly resources that may not always be readily available. (photo by fred kanampiu) |
Published results indicate that the herbicide imazapyr is very good at reducing Striga Populations. unfortunately imazypyr is also very good at reducing maize populations. to get around this problem plant breeders in kenya have developed a strain of maize that is resistant to the herbicide. however, I believe that it is inadvisable to promote this tactic for Striga Control in northern Ghana because imazapyr is a residual pre-emergent herbicide and thus could negatively effect the germination of subsequent plantings of maize varieties that are not resistant to the herbicide (once you start using imazapyr-resistant maize seed you're somewhat locked into the "pesticide treadmill"). the difficulties of replicating pure maize strains in Ghana or of regularly purchasing seeds from outside Ghana, not to mention the difficulties intrinsic in regularly purchasing and applying imazapyr at the village level make this tactic very unattractive. I do not recommend the use of imazapyr and imazapyr-resistant maize as a Striga Control measure that is practical in Ghana.
Striga-resistant maize seed is available from:
Abebe menkir
international institute of tropical agriculture (iita)
oyo road, p.m.b. 5320
ibadan, nigeria
a.menkir@cgiar.org
phone: 234-2-241-2626 extension: 2344/2444
Locally tested strains of Striga-resistant maize, Striga-tolerant guinea corn and soybeans selected for better Striga Trap-crop properties are available from:
| Mumuni (mashcek) abdulai, assistant scientific officer idk (kwasi) atokple dr. Victor clottey, scientific officer james kombiok, scientific officer savanna agricultural research institute box 52 Tamale, Northern Region Ghana phone: 233-71-23251/ 22411/ 23465; fax: 233-71-23483 sari@Africaonline.com.gh |
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Resistance is a biological mechanism that prevents or reduces negative impacts of factors that would have an inhibitory influence on non-resistant organisms. Striga Resistance may be conferred by characteristics that discourage Striga From completing its life cycle, such as by reducing the induction of germination of Striga Seed or by constraining the ability of Striga To attach to the host. I believe that resistant stock is desirable in an IPM program for Striga and efforts should be made to acquire and propagate seed from such stock from sari.
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Researchers at the savanna agricultural research institute in Tamale are working on propagation of locally tested strains of Striga-resistant maize, Striga-tolerant guinea corn and soybeans selected for better Striga trap-crop properties. | |
Trap-crops and false hosts are plants that induce the germination of Striga But to which the parasite cannot attach ("false hosts" is a more encompassing term which may include plants that do not have a commercial value as do crops). trap-crops are a very good way of reducing Striga Seed loads in the soil. in addition, if nitrogen-fixing crops are planted these have the further benefit of increasing soil fertility. trap-crops can be used either in pure stands (to maximize destruction of Striga Seeds and soil conditioning) or in intercropping (which offers some Striga Control while allowing for the farmers' home consumption or cash crop requirements for maize). fallowing with non-crop, leguminous false hosts (such as ‘Bambwuare’ [Crotalaria sp] and velvet bean [Mucuna Sp] is an excellent component of an IPM program for Striga. Seed for Bambwuare, At least, is available from local markets and should be acquired. similarly it is highly recommended to include rotations with trap-crops such as cotton or legumes such as soybean, cowpea, bambara bean or groundnut (called peanut in north america) when there is a profitable market available for these crops. Seed of soybean varieties that have been selected for enhanced characteristics as a false host for Striga Is available from sari and I recommend that efforts be made to obtain such seed.
Because of logistical and budgetary constraints, resistant seed and enhanced soybean seeds were not obtained from these sources but it is hoped that these resources may be utilized in the future. I would recommend that Samuel Arku-Kelly, the FtF program coordinator for OIC Tamale take on the task of, and be allocated the resources for, obtaining Striga Resistant seed, and enhanced soybean stock, preferably from strains already tested under local growing conditions as well as fungal inoculant.
Originally two field days were planned, one in a village near karaga and another near gushiegu. unfortunately, a variety of circumstances (authorizing staff were out of town, a statutory holiday falling the day before our scheduled departure, and routine banking bureaucracy) resulted in delays in acquiring finances from the Tamale office resulted in our having to postpone our departure for a day, which, in turn, resulted in cancellation of the karaga field day. field staff is not accustomed to working on weekends. therefore suggestions to reschedule the karaga field day to saturday were strongly resisted, particularly in light of sacrifices that the field staff had already made in connection with the FtF project activities. (in fact, FtF projects are perceived by the PCF's as being an additional work burden as opposed to integrated assistance to their regular duties.) as a compromise it was decided to invite the participants from the karaga area to the gushiegu field day. the arrangement was minimally satisfactory but resulted in a group size that was not easily managed (59 men and 1 woman). this further delayed the start time and prolonged staff and farmer time in the field because farmers from karaga had to be shuttled to and from the gushiegu area (Kpugi).
Because the arrival of groups was staggered, sessions were conducted in rotation (see Appendix_e-lesson_plans_for_striga_control_field_days_2003.htm). topics covered during the field day included a review of:
| V | Reduction of Striga Seed production and spread, | |
| V | Exhaustion of Striga Seed bank in the soil, | |
| V | Increasing soil fertility. |
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| Newsprint posters were used to help facilitate a field day session on constructing and using compost incorporating foliage from leguminous trees and animal manure. |  |
During the presentations, farmers participated in the construction of a compost pile for seasoning manure and toured and discussed fields where crop rotation out of maize had and had not been practiced. the tour dramatically illustrated the effectiveness of crop rotation in a Striga Control program. however, the issue was raised that while cotton and soybeans are good crops for reducing Striga Seed loads in the soil that there are additional problems to consider:
| V | Cotton can further deplete soils already under nutrient stress | |
| V | Neither cotton nor soybean is a crop with a niche in the traditional subsistence needs of the community | |
| V | As cash crops there are often no profitable markets for either cotton or soybean. |
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| FtF volunteer Conrad Bérubé, PCF's Haruna Ayuba, Ose Roberts and selfu ziba, driver siibu abdu-karim and 60 local farmers participated in a 1-day short-course held in Kpugi to demonstrate components of IPM for the control ofstriga. Particularly effective was an exercise in which participants were asked to scour fields and stand near a striga -infested maize stalk. where maize had been continually cropped for 3 yearsstriga infestation was high (below left).; where two years of rotation with groundnut (a false host) followed by maize-soybean intercropping had been practiced striga was far less prevalent (below right). | |
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Farmers in the gushiegu area requested assistance in marketing with the intention of alleviating the problems they perceive in middlemen purchasers setting the price at harvest.
Farmers were only minimally receptive to the idea of manuring/composting citing that there are a number of hurdles involved in using manure or compost as a soil conditioner:
| V | Free-ranging ruminants are an integral part of rural waste management and are not generally housed-- making the collection of droppings virtually impossible | |
| V | In most case ruminants generally stay fairly close to the village but farms are often some distance away and there is no easy way of hauling large quantities of manure to the farms. | |
| V | In addition, without proper composting cow manure can act as an agent of transmitting weed seeds to the farm. |
To review, the specific objectives of my visit were to:
| V | Meet with 50 farmers, principally from the suhiyini maize growers association, to attempt to determine levels of Striga infestation in various communities of the gushiegu/karaga district of the northern region of Ghana (Completed; we, in fact, met with 262 men and 27 women at village visits that were then followed by a 1-day short-course held in Kpugi which was attended by 59 male and 1 female farmer) | |
| V | Discuss perceptions about the ultimate causes of Striga infestation (Completed; most farmers recognize that Striga is ultimately a problem of reduced soil fertility), | |
| V | Discuss when correcting the situation would be warranted and what would be appropriate strategies (Completed; most farmers seemed to recognize that control of Striga would need to start well before host seeds went into the ground), | |
| V | Implement strategies growing out of discussions on at least two demonstration plots (Completed [kind of]; it seemed to be more useful to identify where good rotational practices had already been put into place so that farmers could see the value of such without having to start from scratch—however, there is plenty of opportunity to further implement Striga IPM practices using the following tactics: |
| Ø | Early planting | Ø | Improved fallowing involving sowing non-crop, false host species adapted to local soil conditions | ||
| Ø | No burning | ||||
| Ø | Soil manuring | ||||
| Ø | Crop rotations that include non-hosts or false hosts | Ø | Hand pulling of Striga) | ||
| Ø | Intercropping with resistant crops |
| V | Conduct 2 field days with at least 50 farmers to demonstrate practices associated with core Striga management strategies (Completed [kind of], we exceeded our target for the number of farmers participating in field days but because of logistical difficulties ended up accommodating everyone at a single [loooong] day), | |
| V | Develop criteria and protocols for evaluating effectiveness of project activities (Completed; The refined protocols and evaluation benchmarks appear below), | |
| V | Assess current farmer practices to control or manage the parasitic weed Striga (Completed; A qualitative assessment was completed through village discussions but quantitative assessments should be conducted by asking PCF’s to monitor harvests in the current and future seasons), | |
| V | Develop a plan for test plot establishment (Completed, see below), | |
| V | Identify good quality seed for production (Completed, however, good follow-up must be conducted to actually acquire the seed), | |
| V | Prepare reference material on the effective control of Striga for use by association members and other relevant agencies (Completed, see Appendix_a-mini-flipcharts-striga_script.htm, Appendix_b-mini-flipcharts-striga_drawings.htm and aPpendix_c-mini-flipcharts-striga_photos.htm). |
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A series of photos were taken to correspond to illustrations in from "controlling striga as a means for raising soil fertility" to assist in future presentations. |  |
Coordination with other FtF projects
Prior to leaving Ghana in july of 2003 I left a letter at the OICT office for delivery to eddie bryant, a farmer-to-farmer volunteer who was to follow close on the heels of my departure (see Appendix_f_2003_FtF_striga_letters.htm). his mission involved working with a soybean cooperative in order to explore ways of increasing production and improving marketing strategies for soybeans. I asked him to pass on any information/suggestions on these topics to Ose Roberts and Haruna Ayuba for transmission to farmers in the gushiegu/karaga area and suggested that he consider incorporating soybeans enhanced for Striga False-host characteristics into his own program. I would suggest that in August of 2003 Samuel Arku-Kelly takes on the task of confirming that such information has been passed on.
Monitoring: quantitative assessment of striga infestation for seed
load
My own experimentation attempting to develop a means of monitoring the potential for Striga Abundance, prior to planting a susceptible host, were far from satisfactory but may warrant further exploration:
Striga Seeds will float. it should therefore be possible to mix soil containing Striga Seeds with water to obtain a floating cap that can be skimmed off. the skimmings can then be assessed for the quantity of seed contained therein. seed could be so obtained from an area with a known level of infestation (i.e. where a host is present and Striga Has been observed and quantified). after similarly obtaining skimmings from the same volume of soil in a location where no host is present, comparing the amount of seed obtained from the infested field may allow a relative assessment to be made.
Some difficulties to be addressed:
| V | There is a significant amount of detritus that appears to be of the colour and size range of Striga Seed and it is difficult to discern whether this is Striga Seed, the seed of some other weed species or simply debris. | |
| V | The seed skimmings tend to stick to the sides of the container making extraction somewhat difficult. |
I recommend that a student intern working at the OICT office be asked to take up the challenge of exploring this technique and generating a work-term report on the subject (to be turned in to Sammy by December 2003).
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Preliminary efforts were made to determine if soil samples could be “washed” to ascertain the number of striga seeds contained in a given sample of soil; the small size of the seed and prevalence of similar-looking debris will require further investigation if this is to become a useful technique. (the illustration is one of a number that I created to supplement "controlling striga as a means for raising soil fertility".) |
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.
| A rough estimate of the severity of a Striga Infestation can be gotten just prior to the first weeding by counting the number of stalks out of 100 that bear one or more Striga stems. it should be remembered that weeding is primarily intended to reduce seed loads for future crops since the Striga has already damaged the current crop once it begins to emerge above ground. (the illustration is one of a number that I created to supplement "controlling Striga as a means for raising soil fertility".) |
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Alternatively, if the farmer owns or can borrow a watch s/he could search all maize fields in which maize has been sown for at least eight weeks (by which time Striga should have begun flowering). In each of the fields farmers would search rows of maize for exactly three minutes counting the number of maize stalks bearing one or more Striga Stems (it should be emphasized in the instructions to farmers that if the field is intercropped the rows of non-host crop should be ignored during the search). stem counts as mentioned above can be used for assessments but comparisons may be inconsistent depending upon how much ground an observer covers in three minutes and the acuity of the searcher.
By mid-August 2003 I will produce a set of photos and
videos to supplement the drawings contained in the Striga Control picture
series. these will be forwarded to the FtF program coordinator, Samuel Arku-Kelly,
for inclusion with Striga Control technical information for use during
extension presentations.
In early july I wrote to crop breeding specialists at sari requesting Striga-resistant maize seed and seed of soybean varieties that have been selected for enhanced characteristics as a false host for Striga (see Appendix_f_2003_FtF_striga_letters.htm). (the institute also has available Striga-tolerant sorghum; however it is the majority opinion of myself and most other field staff that tolerance of Striga By a host crop offers too great a risk of ultimately increasing infestations in maize by allowing weed and seed levels to increase. thus, no Striga-tolerant crops are recommended for future testing or dissemination.) Samuel Arku-Kelly should, by the end of july, follow up with the sari contacts in order to ensure that the requested seed stock has been propagated as arranged and to make arrangements with PCF's to undertake pickup and/or dissemination of seeds to farmers willing to try the new varieties. Sammy should also look into acquiring seeds of Crotalaria for Improved fallowing plots (siibu abdu-karim has a line on where to acquire these). Pcf's should ensure that proper records are kept regarding the performance of improved varieties. such records should include cropping history for at least two years prior to the sowing of improved varieties.
Ose kofi Roberts and Haruna Ayuba have each participated in a number of the extension presentations facilitated by myself using the Striga Control picture series. it is recommended that, by the end of july Ose and Ayuba should visit the site of at least two other PCF's to conduct at least two such presentations with each "new" PCF; likewise, within three weeks of receiving training, these newly trained PCF's should conduct training sessions in yet other sites, and so on, until all PCF's have received guidance in using the Striga Control picture series and associated dialog script. Samuel Arku-Kelly should monitor the progress of the transmission of this skill set.
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.
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 (see Appendix_g_2003_FtF_striga_demo_plot_form.htm). by the end of November 2006 (and potentially much sooner): for each year covering a period of three years each PCF should generate 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. 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, |  |
|
| 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. |
There
is no “magic bullet” for Striga control but there are a number of tactics
that can be implemented to improve current levels of infestation and crop loss.
in effect the keys to good crop health, i.e. Maintaining good soil fertility
and implementing practices to reduce Striga seed loads, are similar to
recipes for human health, i.e. Eat a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise.
these are easy to recommend but difficult to actually get folks to put into
practice. however, with continued vigilence and diligence we can wave bye-bye
to severe Striga infestations.
It is often difficult to coordinate vehicle use in the field with office activities. it might prove more efficient with respect to fieldwork to devote vehicles to programs rather than to a general pool.
It has come to my attention that stateside expectations may be that the food and accommodation needs of volunteers would be provided by host communities at the village level. it is my belief that, instead, OIC Ghana has done a very good job at maximizing the effectiveness of volunteers by hosting most FtF volunteers at centrally located guesthouses from which day-trips to outlying client communities can be made. this also allows volunteers to gain a fuller understanding of the variety of challenges facing client groups by exposing them to a wider number of client sites instead of staying in one location for most of one’s tour. in addition, staying at a central guesthouse provides the opportunity to interact with other staff or even other FtF volunteers with whom work concerns can be discussed. in addition, this approach makes easier the management of volunteers' health (with greater proximity to pharmacies and hospitals in the larger towns) and access to infrastructure facilitating project objectives (electricity, computers, information via the internet, tools and supplies, etc). if, in contrast, the Farmer to Farmer experience is intended to be a "mini Peace Corps" experience, then the volunteer screening will need to be much more rigorous and project objectives and outreach expectations will need to be cut back significantly. although on my first trip I had been prepared to stay in the traditional dab-and-wattle round huts my attitude is probably considerably more flexible than is my spine these days and I was somewhat relieved when I did not have to bunk on a goat skin. even under current protocols it is sometimes difficult to complete project objectives since there are no dedicated budgetary resources beyond those that support the travel and living expenses of the volunteer. this could be rectified either by allocating program resources explicitly for FtF use (such as a vehicle and fuel allocation) or by explicitly recommending that FtF volunteers raise project funds prior to their commencing their service. a budget specifically designated for provisions for FtF programs might alleviate difficulties raised by difficulties in communication about and authorization for funds.
I d like to thank technical officer, Samuel Arku-Kelly and polycovalent community facilitators Ose Kofi Roberts, Selfu Ziba and Haruna Ayuba and our driver Siibu Abdu-Karim for their efforts in assisting me to complete the objectives of the Striga portion of my trip while on a very tight schedule. Siibu and Haruna deserve special recognition as, once I had my feet under me with respect to the project objectives, I pushed for the opportunity to visit two villages per day-- which required longer days and some missed meals. in addition, they proved flexible and understanding when we hit some bumps in the road in completing project objectives (both literally and figuratively) and were able to assist to new circumstances particularly in organizing and carrying out the field day.
 And
finally, I would like to thank Rabi Sali Al-Hassan, whom I wed during my
trip, for renewing life and love. may the journey we have begun be a long
and happy one. |
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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