Everyone's Blog Posts - Ndop Rice2024-03-29T12:47:48Zhttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?xn_auth=noHarvesting rice in Ndop; December 2015tag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2016-01-19:2381536:BlogPost:147862016-01-19T07:56:03.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923237?profile=original" target="_self"></a>We trained 3 farming groups in 2013; an additional 5 in 2014 and 5 more in 2015. With SRI the farmers are finding that the average number of tillers increased from an average of 18 to 45 ! Her<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923484?profile=original" target="_self"></a></span>e are some of…</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923237?profile=original" target="_self"></a>We trained 3 farming groups in 2013; an additional 5 in 2014 and 5 more in 2015. With SRI the farmers are finding that the average number of tillers increased from an average of 18 to 45 ! Her<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923484?profile=original" target="_self"></a></span>e are some of the observations from the plots of the 5 groups trained this year:</span></p>
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<p><strong><font face="Calibri">SRI Plot</font></strong></p>
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<li><p>The average tillers are as follows ( random sampling ) : lowest number of tillers 37 highest number tillers 53= 45 average</p>
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<li><p>Pinnacles : lowest number 12 highest number 14= 13 average</p>
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<li><p>Grain length 1.2mm</p>
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<p><b>Traditional plot</b></p>
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<li><p>The average tillers are as follows ( random sampling ) : lowest number of tillers 12 highest number tillers 24= 18 average</p>
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<li><p>Pinnacles : lowest number 10 highest number tillers 12= 11 average</p>
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<li><p>Grain length 1mm</p>
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<p><em><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">The new groups are trained on harvesting techniques: use of local materials and manual threshing</span></em></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923484?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="600" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923484?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></span></span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923237?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="600" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923237?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></span></p>
<p></p>Creating rotary weeders in Ndop, Cameroontag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2015-10-21:2381536:BlogPost:147502015-10-21T10:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a>Last year we imported rotary weeders from India to Cameroon to help the farmers; the weeders not only reduce the time taken for the farmers to weed their farms and reduce the extremely strenuous physical labour that the farmers have to put into their farms; but more…</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a>Last year we imported rotary weeders from India to Cameroon to help the farmers; the weeders not only reduce the time taken for the farmers to weed their farms and reduce the extremely strenuous physical labour that the farmers have to put into their farms; but more importantly these should stimulate greater plant growth and productivity through active soil aeration and pruning of roots near the surface (that stimulates the growth of larger and deeper root systems).</p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">When farmers started using weeders they found the time taken to work the same plot was reduced from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes !</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">This year the farmers started manufacturing the weeders locally in Cameroon. Following the successful pilot of 2 weeders, we have expanded on the number of weeders produced.</span></p>
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<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">Caroline the chairwomen from the Church Street Farmers group has been responsible for organizing the manufacture of the weeders. The women have been paying part of the cost of the weeders themselves.</span></p>
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<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">In this picture Cameroon Caroline is instructing the Church Street Farmers on the use of the weeders. The Church Street Farmers is one of the first groups we trained and they have been using SRI since 2013.</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433901907?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="600" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433901907?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/><br/></a></span></span></p>
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<p>In the attached pictures Caroline is providing the weeders to new groups who started using SRI in 2014; the Son Women's group and the Ake Women's group. In addition the groups who we are training on SRI in 2015 are being trained on using the new weeders:</p>
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<p><a href="http://ndop-rice.ning.com/photo/albums/september-2015-manufacturing-rotary-weeders-locally">http://ndop-rice.ning.com/photo/albums/september-2015-manufacturing-rotary-weeders-locally</a></p>
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<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"> </span></p>Enabling the women to create rotary weeders locallytag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2015-05-25:2381536:BlogPost:146422015-05-25T14:00:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_5563307f871746127222232"><p>Last year we imported rotary weeders from India to help the farmers. The farmers found the weeders extremely useful - they helped to solve the problem of back br<span class="text_exposed_show">eaking manual labour.</span></p>
<div class="text_exposed_show"><p>This year we asked the farmers to manufacture these locally; this initiative was managed by the women. The women found the workers, supervised the work and the…</p>
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<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_5563307f871746127222232"><p>Last year we imported rotary weeders from India to help the farmers. The farmers found the weeders extremely useful - they helped to solve the problem of back br<span class="text_exposed_show">eaking manual labour.</span></p>
<div class="text_exposed_show"><p>This year we asked the farmers to manufacture these locally; this initiative was managed by the women. The women found the workers, supervised the work and the design and funded some of the cost themselves.</p>
<p>This pictures show the first two weeders they have had made</p>
<p><img width="750" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924395?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></p>
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</div>Training the farmers to make organic composttag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2015-01-19:2381536:BlogPost:138432015-01-19T00:00:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p>One of the major problems that the farmers faced h<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541934555?profile=original" target="_self"></a>as been in being able to afford fertilizers. A lot of the time the farmers have not been able to apply fertilizers to their farms due to the cost.</p>
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<p>With the introduction of SRI, we taught the farmers to use organic composts.</p>
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<p>However the farmers faced again faced the problem of acquiring sufficient compost…</p>
<p>One of the major problems that the farmers faced h<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541934555?profile=original" target="_self"></a>as been in being able to afford fertilizers. A lot of the time the farmers have not been able to apply fertilizers to their farms due to the cost.</p>
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<p>With the introduction of SRI, we taught the farmers to use organic composts.</p>
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<p>However the farmers faced again faced the problem of acquiring sufficient compost and this time due to the shortage of supply. Our concern is that as the farmers expand on their use of SRI, they will not be able to get the compost that they need.</p>
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<p>Therefore in partnership with Forest & Agroforestry Promoters in Ndop, we provided training on making composts.</p>
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<p>The farmers have all the materials that they need and with this skill, they will be able to reduce their costs and increase their yields.</p>
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<p>1. Demonstration: applying grass and watering</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541934555?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="674" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541934555?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></p>
<p>2. Practical: the farmers building the compost pile</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541944094?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="674" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541944094?profile=original"/></a></p>
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<p></p>July 2014: Farmers continue to use and expand on the use of SRI with very exciting resultstag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2014-09-01:2381536:BlogPost:137072014-09-01T19:44:43.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433898845?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433898845?profile=original" width="276"></img></a></p>
<p>The farmers are continuing to use the techniques that we taught them last year and continue to expand the area that they will use these techniques; for example the Church Street Farmers are expanding on the use of SRI from a small demonstration plot to 5 rooms.</p>
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<p>So for the results are exciting ; with 55 tillers per plant after just 6 weeks…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433898845?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="276" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433898845?profile=original"/></a></p>
<p>The farmers are continuing to use the techniques that we taught them last year and continue to expand the area that they will use these techniques; for example the Church Street Farmers are expanding on the use of SRI from a small demonstration plot to 5 rooms.</p>
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<p>So for the results are exciting ; with 55 tillers per plant after just 6 weeks !</p>
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<p>For some picture from the field, <a href="http://ndop-rice.ning.com/photo/albums/july-2014-the-farmers-continue-to-use-sri" target="_self">click here</a></p>
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<p></p>July 2014: Introducing rotary weeders to Ndop, Cameroontag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2014-09-01:2381536:BlogPost:136092014-09-01T19:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902021?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902021?profile=original" width="276"></img></a> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a>This year we introduced rotary weeders to Cameroon to help the farmers; the weeders not only to reduce the time taken for the…</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902021?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="276" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902021?profile=original"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"></a>This year we introduced rotary weeders to Cameroon to help the farmers; the weeders not only to reduce the time taken for the farmers to weed their farms and to reduce the extremely strenuous physical labour that the farmers have to put into their farms; but more importantly these should stimulate greater plant growth and productivity through active soil aeration and pruning of roots near the surface (that stimulates the growth of larger and deeper root systems).</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">The farmers have recently started to use the rotary weeders and with the rotary weeders the time taken to work the same plot was reduced from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes !</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">We introduced two models; one with two wheels and the second with one wheel. The farmers found that the model with the two wheels was best used in the early stages of farming when the plant roots were not deep.</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">The second model however with the single wheel; was easy to use and resulted in large time savings. The farmers are extremely enthusiastic about this model.</span></p>
<p><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="313" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902104?profile=original"/></a></span>For more pictures <a href="http://ndop-rice.ning.com/photo/albums/july-2014-introducing-rotary-weeders-to-ndop-cameroon" target="_self">click here</a></p>
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<p></p>Dr. Olugbenga Oluseyi AdeOluwa from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria) to travel to Ndoptag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2014-08-25:2381536:BlogPost:135962014-08-25T01:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p>One of the problems that the farmers continue to face is with a lack of fertilizers. The techniques we taught them last year focused on how to choose seeds, to nurse, transplant the rice and to manage their farms. But even with these techniques to optimize yields, the farmers need fertilizers.</p>
<p>The problem the farmers face is that they cannot afford the fertilizers; either inorganic or organic and they do not know how make their own compost.</p>
<p>To help the farmers with this…</p>
<p>One of the problems that the farmers continue to face is with a lack of fertilizers. The techniques we taught them last year focused on how to choose seeds, to nurse, transplant the rice and to manage their farms. But even with these techniques to optimize yields, the farmers need fertilizers.</p>
<p>The problem the farmers face is that they cannot afford the fertilizers; either inorganic or organic and they do not know how make their own compost.</p>
<p>To help the farmers with this problem, Dr. Olugbenga Oluseyi AdeOluwa from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria will travel to Cameroon next week. Dr. AdeOluwa is a senior lecturer at the Department of Agronomy (Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry), and the focus of his research has been on soil fertility and local means of creating organic composts.</p>
<p>Dr. AdeOluwa has authored many related articles, acts as an editorial member of the Journal of Agriculture Forestry and Social Science (JOAFSS), and his consultancy work spans the National Project Coordination of the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative in Nigeria as well as multi-dimensional trials with fertilizer needs in maize and rice in Southwest and North Central Nigeria, and much more.....<br/> Dr. AdeOluwa will show the farmers in Ndop techniques to make compost.</p>
<p>We are honoured to have Dr. AdeOluwa joining our programme and travelling to Cameroon to help the farmers in Ndop !</p>June 2014: Introducing Rotary Weederstag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2014-07-20:2381536:BlogPost:135872014-07-20T16:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p>One of the problems that the farmers raised with us was about the difficulties they are having with weeds.</p>
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<p>To help them solve this problem we have provided them with rotary weeders imported from KGVK product and development. KGVK is the social arm of Usha Martin in India (a manufacturer of wire, rope and manufacturing items). KGVK as their social arm has been recognized as the “Best Social Development Organization” of emerging Jharkhand by the Times group of…</p>
<p>One of the problems that the farmers raised with us was about the difficulties they are having with weeds.</p>
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<p>To help them solve this problem we have provided them with rotary weeders imported from KGVK product and development. KGVK is the social arm of Usha Martin in India (a manufacturer of wire, rope and manufacturing items). KGVK as their social arm has been recognized as the “Best Social Development Organization” of emerging Jharkhand by the Times group of India.</p>
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<p>The farmers will experiment with two designs of rotary weeders specifically designed for grass root rice farmers. As the agricultural season continues and the farmers will be able to use this equipment in erneast, we look forward to reverting with more feedback.</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924938?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924938?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="650" class="align-center"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541926186?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541926186?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="650" class="align-center"/></a></p>2014 Activities - the training continues.....tag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2014-07-08:2381536:BlogPost:134002014-07-08T00:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p>In 2014 we will continue to provide training to the farming groups and we will train 5 new groups; 3 in Bamessing and 2 in Bamunka.</p>
<p>In these pictures the farmers trained last year, are teaching the new farmers about selecting the seeds and preparing the nursery…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902455?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902455?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="650"></img></a></p>
<p>In 2014 we will continue to provide training to the farming groups and we will train 5 new groups; 3 in Bamessing and 2 in Bamunka.</p>
<p>In these pictures the farmers trained last year, are teaching the new farmers about selecting the seeds and preparing the nursery</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902455?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433902455?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433900399?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433900399?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></p>
<p>And in this pictures the farmers are training the new farmers on preparing the land and on transplanting:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433904227?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433904227?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></p>
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<p></p>Introduction of SRI to Ndop, Cameroon in 2013: Evaluationtag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2014-03-29:2381536:BlogPost:134542014-03-29T15:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Henry Ngimbu from the Centre For SRI Initiative (CSRII) from Zambia,</font></span> <span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="3">travelled to Cameroon 3 times in 2013 (May, June/July and then December) and each visit was of 1 weeks duration. During those 3 trips he introduced the techniques of SRI to 3 farming groups.…</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Henry Ngimbu from the Centre For SRI Initiative (CSRII) from Zambia,</font></span> <span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="3">travelled to Cameroon 3 times in 2013 (May, June/July and then December) and each visit was of 1 weeks duration. During those 3 trips he introduced the techniques of SRI to 3 farming groups.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Representatives from SfD (Tamara Palamakumbura, Parshav Garg and Rachel Marchal (one of SfD’s funders) travelled to Cameroon in February 2014 so to evaluate these activities. We met each of the farming groups trained in 2013; we asked for their feedback at the group level and at the individual farmer level through a questionnaire.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="4">1. Participation: <span style="text-decoration: underline;">222 farmers involved in the training</span></font></span></strong></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><font face="Calibri" size="3">The Cameroon farmers have well established farming group structures; where the farmers run small savings schemes and co-ordinate community activity. Henry worked with 3 farming groups and introduced a technique of farmer leaders; where each leader would train an additional 5 members. Using this structure, Henry’s training reached up 222 farmers:</font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><b>Tianghou Rice Farmers:</b> 84 trained (14 Leaders who trained an additional 70 members)</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><b>Church Street Farmers:</b> 72 trained (12 Leaders who trained an additional 60 members)</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><b>Makew Women’s Group:</b> 66 trained (11 Leaders who trained an additional 55 members)</font></font></p>
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<p><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="4">2. Adoption: <span style="text-decoration: underline;">92% of farmers trained will use SRI again in 2014</span></font></span></strong></span></font></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3">We collected data from 73 farmers as part of the questionnaire. <b><u>68% of them tried SRI</u></b> in their farms in 2013; albeit in small pilot of plots. The farmers who did not adopt SRI in 2013, did not do so due to external circumstances (such as illness, irrigation issues, they were trained too late in the farming cycle).</font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><b>92% tell us that they will use SRI again in 2014;</b> and on a larger area of their farms.</font></font></p>
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<p><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="4">3. Initial indicators: <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Increased # of tillers per plant and yield reported as high as 12.8 t/h (compared to an average of 3.4 t/h without SRI)</span></font></span></strong></span></font></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3">As part of the questionnaire we collected data on the number of tillers per plant and yields. We could not collect additional data (such as the number of grains per panicle, the weight of the grains etc) as the farmers had not been collecting this data. Our analysis of the yields from the pilot plots was inaccurate due to the inaccuracy in the measurement of the plot sizes.</font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3">Regardless our data shows a very clear increase in the number of tillers per plant; the more tillers per plant; the more stalks on the plant on which rice can grow. And this therefore will result in a larger harvest. We found that the minimum average from SRI was 18, whilst the same statistics for non SRI was 6. The maximum average from SRI was 66, whilst the same statistic for non SRI was 16.</font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924097?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924097?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></font></p>
<p> </p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924097?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924097?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3">Although we could not measure the yields ourselves, it was reported to us that SRI yields were averaging 8 t/h and as high as 12.8 t/h. Whereas, the average without SRI is approximately 3.4 t/h.</font></p>
<p> </p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><font face="Calibri" size="4">4. Feedback from the farmers: <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Problems Faced</span></font></span></strong></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3">2013 was the first year in which SRI was introduced and implemented in Cameroon. As with the introduction of new techniques subsequent follow through and adjustment is required to ensure the successfully adoption. Therefore the problems that the farmers faced will become the focus on our activities in subsequent year.</font></p>
<ol>
<li><p><font face="Calibri" size="3"><b>Weeds/Pests:</b> The farmers continue to face problems with weeds and pests which are compromising their harvests.</font></p>
</li>
<li><p><font face="Calibri" size="3"><b>Manure:</b> With SRI the farmers were taught to use organic methods and for this they relied heavily on animal based manure. The manure is difficult to get and in short supply in this area and therefore the supply and cost of manure is of concern</font></p>
</li>
<li><font face="Calibri" size="3"><b>Labour intensity of the SRI techniques:</b> Some of the SRI techniques are extremely labour intensive (such as weeding, tilling and harvesting)</font></li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="3">Therefore for 2014/2015 SfD will focus on helping the farmers to overcome these difficulties with SRI as well continuing to support the training and adoption of SRI in the community.</font></p>Performance in the SRI rice fieldstag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2013-11-23:2381536:BlogPost:130352013-11-23T15:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p></p>
<p>This is the latest feedback from the farmers:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924466?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924466?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p>“Great results of SRI / NSSP as most farmers are looking at the fields performances to be like magic and me the coordinator and all the board members are proud to be the first farmers to take the challenge and we are ready to continue practicing the techniques ...”</p>
<p>And when we shared this Cornell…</p>
<p></p>
<p>This is the latest feedback from the farmers:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924466?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924466?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>“Great results of SRI / NSSP as most farmers are looking at the fields performances to be like magic and me the coordinator and all the board members are proud to be the first farmers to take the challenge and we are ready to continue practicing the techniques ...”</p>
<p>And when we shared this Cornell University in the US, this was there reaction:</p>
<p>“Are these pictures from Asia or Africa? Such rice I have seen in Asia, but not in Africa.”</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541930427?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541930427?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>We still have to do a full survey of the results, but the initial feedback is very exciting.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541930928?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541930928?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>Trip 2 (1-5th July 2013): 216 farmers being taught and upto 100% increase in the number of tillers/planttag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2013-08-28:2381536:BlogPost:132602013-08-28T02:26:25.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p>This is our second trip to Ndop (Province of Ngoketunjia), Cameroon for the purpose of helping the rice farmers to empower themselves by providing them skills designed to improve yields and reduce costs. </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>a) 216 farmers being trained by the programme</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924091?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924091?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"></img></a> During the first trip 3 farming groups…</p>
<p>This is our second trip to Ndop (Province of Ngoketunjia), Cameroon for the purpose of helping the rice farmers to empower themselves by providing them skills designed to improve yields and reduce costs. </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>a) 216 farmers being trained by the programme</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924091?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541924091?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-left"/></a>During the first trip 3 farming groups participated in the programme. During the second trip, each farming group implemented a Breeding Farm. The Breeding Farm will remain the responsiblity of the chairmen/chairwomen of the group. The produce of the breeding farm will not be sold. Instead the breeding farm will ensure that the farmers protect the quality of their seed for futures farming cycles and for the expansion of SRI.</p>
<p>During the first trip 36 farmer leaders were trained by the programme. During the second trip each of these farmer leaders setup a multiplication farm. They will work on the multiplication farm with 5 other farmers and so the multiplication farm become a mechanism for introducing SRI to 216 farmers. Furthermore the multiplication farm is offshoot or replica from the breeding farm and it is meant to expand the traits or qualities of a breeding farm.</p>
<hr/><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>b) Number of tillers per plant at 45-55 in places (from 20-30 before the programme)</strong></span></p>
<p>The farmers are currently at the initial stages of the farming cycle and are in the process of nursing their plants. This is the process by which they use seeds to grow plants in nurseries and once the plants are a certain age, the plants will be transplanted to the main farms. In this initial nursing stage, the farmers are reporting back that they are getting up to 45-55 tillers per plant. The farmers tell us that in the past they never got more than 20-30 tillers. A tiller is the number of stalks on each rice plant and each tiller will eventually bear rice. The more tillers per plant, the more rice farmers will get during the harvest. So this is a first and very positive sign that the techniques we are introducing will give the farmers a higher yield.</p>
<hr/><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>c) Feedback from the farmers</strong></span></p>
<p>We are particularly excited by the fact that under their own initiative the farmers established the <b>Ngoketunjhia SRI <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541961054?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541961054?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-right"/></a>Seed Programme (NSSP).</b> This is an organization encompassing the 3 farming groups and run by representative farmers. The farmer’s objectives for the organisation are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>“<i>To train or share with other farmers on how to reduce loss of resources and how to double their yields with consideration to good management of plants, soil and water</i></li>
<li><i>For members to raise income and improve their livelihood through the production and marketing of organic food, purely selected rice seeds and other crops</i></li>
<li><i>To encourage group dynamics amongst members, to work together in order to have a good and universal market for their farm products and to be able to lobby for assistance in their agricultural activities</i></li>
<li><i>In order to have available a good and well selected foundation of seeds for next seasons and for other farmers”</i></li>
</ul>
<p>Their feedback on the two activities we organised so far is as follows:</p>
<p><i>“ Farmers in Ndop are very much excited and satisfied with Henry`s trips as the results in the fields are doing great (Tianghou has 46 tillers, Makew has 55 tillers and Church Street has 23tillers on their Demo plots).</i></p>
<p><i>Farmers find very useful the seed preparation method of using an egg (priming),field preparation method of using the marker, transplanting in letter L-shape on Hills following lines, transplanting at younger age and quickly from the nursery bed, water management methods of constructing embankments, transplanting 25cm x 25cm 0n the rows and along the rows, preparation/application of manure by grinding of animal droppings and broadcasting in between the plants.</i></p>
<p><i>Farmers are implementing all the techniques in their individual farms and very excited as experimenters to see and compare the results during harvesting and post harvest (marketing) values.”</i></p>
<hr/><p><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541961109?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541961109?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-left"/></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;">d) What was taught</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>SRI Seed selection techniques</li>
<li>SRI nursery management</li>
<li>SRI field preparations and levelling</li>
<li>SRI farm embankements</li>
<li>SRI water control measures</li>
<li>Tools: local innovations for required tools (such as marking tool)</li>
<li>SRI organic manure mobilization</li>
<li>SRI Transplanting practices</li>
<li>SRI group dynamics</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>Farmers setup NSSP: Ngoketunjia SRI Seed Programmetag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2013-08-19:2381536:BlogPost:129702013-08-19T00:23:30.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p><span>We are very excited to hear that the three farming groups that were involved in the training so far have together created a SRI group in the village of Ndop, Cameroon; the "Ngoketunjia SRI Seed Programme NSSP". The group is run by representatives of the three farming groups and the individual farmers are making financial contributions towards the running of the organisation. </span><br></br><br></br><span>In telling us about</span><span class="text_exposed_show"> their initiative their…</span></p>
<p><span>We are very excited to hear that the three farming groups that were involved in the training so far have together created a SRI group in the village of Ndop, Cameroon; the "Ngoketunjia SRI Seed Programme NSSP". The group is run by representatives of the three farming groups and the individual farmers are making financial contributions towards the running of the organisation. </span><br/><br/><span>In telling us about</span><span class="text_exposed_show"> their initiative their comments to us where "We consider your support in sponsoring SRI to farmers in Ndop as very important for improving our livelihoods and we need to demonstrate our activeness and interest in this new innovation"<br/><br/>The farmers engagement and ownership is fundamental to the success of any initiative and so we are very excited by this news.</span></p>Trip 1 (May 2013): Farmer leaders from 3 farming groups in Ndop are trained in SRItag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2013-07-21:2381536:BlogPost:126132013-07-21T03:00:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p>After over 4 years of developing the programme and fund raising, in 2013 we finally started our activities.</p>
<p>Henry Ngimbu from Zambia was recommended to us by Cornell University from the US. Henry first introduced SRI to Zambia in 2005. In November 2009, the <a href="http://www.wcs.org/where-we-work/africa/zambia.aspx">Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Zambia</a> engaged Henry Ngimbu to train farmers. In early 2010 Henry created the Centre for SRI Initiative (CSRII). In February…</p>
<p>After over 4 years of developing the programme and fund raising, in 2013 we finally started our activities.</p>
<p>Henry Ngimbu from Zambia was recommended to us by Cornell University from the US. Henry first introduced SRI to Zambia in 2005. In November 2009, the <a href="http://www.wcs.org/where-we-work/africa/zambia.aspx">Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Zambia</a> engaged Henry Ngimbu to train farmers. In early 2010 Henry created the Centre for SRI Initiative (CSRII). In February 2011, CSRII received funding from the American Embassy to train 300 farmers in the Zambezi District of the Northwestern Province of Zambia.</p>
<p>Henry travelled to Cameroon on the 18<sup>th</sup> of May and spent 5 days with the farmers (20<sup>th</sup> May to 24<sup>th</sup> of May). He was assisted in Cameroon by a local NGO FAP.</p>
<p>3 farming groups participated in the training. The initial farmers trained will become farmer leaders and thereby we created the building blocks in terms of a SRI leadership structure. These lead farmers will be the drivers in expanding the programme across this community.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433898657?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433898657?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p>The material covered includes:</p>
<p>a) <b>SRI Farm record-keeping and preparing farming seasonal calendar:</b> The women farmers practiced and demonstrated on their own how to maintain a simple but effective farm record-keeping and be able to plan and prepare their yearly farming seasonal calendar which is very important for a farmer to know and prepare adequately the direction of her farming activities in a season. </p>
<p>b) <b>Local farmer-based method of seed germination potency testing:</b> The women farmers practiced and demonstrated on their own how to carry out seed germination potency testing technique to help them separate the most viable seeds for planting from the rest. Simply this involved putting the seeds into a pail of water to which salt has been added. This makes the task of removing non-viable seeds easier</p>
<p>c) <b>Nursery Management and Priming:</b> The women farmers practiced and demonstrated on their own how to prepare seedling nurseries in different approaches to produce healthy seedlings basing on the enabling factors and farm condition.</p>
<p>d) <b>Transplanting practices:</b> The women farmers practiced and demonstrated on their own how to transplant young seedlings, transplanting single seedling per clump, carefully and with shallow rooting for the rice plant to reach its full tilling potential.</p>
<p><b>e) </b> <b>Field preparation and management:</b> The women farmers practiced and demonstrated on their own how to on good field management to support rice plant and of its soil and water conditions, so that the plant's potential for growth and production gets fully expressed.</p>
<p><b>f) </b> <b>Group on-farm work culture policy:</b> The women farmers practiced and demonstrated the importance of group dynamics which hinge strongly on emphasising the need to work together as a group and adherence to good governance.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433901103?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2433901103?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400" class="align-right"/></a></p>
<p>The detailed technical report has been reviewed by both Cornell University and by our independent governance partner PAN AP. PAN AP comprises 108 network partner organizations in the Asia Pacific region and links with about 400 other CSOs and grassroots organizations regionally and globally. Rice has remained one of PAN AP’s focuses.</p>
<p>Both Cornell University and PAN AP have reverted with positive feedback. The first trip is a strong start to the programme. The participation of the farmers and farmers groups was encouraging. The conditions they face are typical conditions where the techniques we will introduce can have a positive impact and will improve the farmer’s yields, reduce their costs and therefore empower and alleviate poverty. The techniques that Henry taught will have an immediate impact. </p>Field Visit (February/March 2011)tag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2011-05-17:2381536:BlogPost:20422011-05-17T20:22:39.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p> </p>
<p>The purpose of the visit was to ascertain the changes to the farming conditions since the survey undertaken in <a href="http://ndop-rice.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-problem" target="_self">October 2008</a>. We wanted to know whether our initial analysis was still valid.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In summary, there has been additional funding and development in the region due to the UNVDA (Upper Nun Valley Development Authority - the Cameroon Government rice development corporation). The UNVDA…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The purpose of the visit was to ascertain the changes to the farming conditions since the survey undertaken in <a href="http://ndop-rice.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-problem" target="_self">October 2008</a>. We wanted to know whether our initial analysis was still valid.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In summary, there has been additional funding and development in the region due to the UNVDA (Upper Nun Valley Development Authority - the Cameroon Government rice development corporation). The UNVDA has started rehabilitating the 2552 hectares of the developed farms, and providing loans to the farmers (in the forms of fertilizers), providing a market to the farmers (by buying the unprocessed rice) and providing increased training to the farmers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A survey of the farming groups is summarized below:</p>
<ul>
<li>None of the recipient groups benefited from the additional training (with none of the groups having received training since the original survey)</li>
<li>All the farming groups have benefited from the fertilizer loans, however as these are loans it has not impacted the problem faced by farmers of not being able to afford adequate quantities of fertilizers</li>
<li>2 of the 3 farming groups visited, continued to have problems with irrigation (as they are farming in the undeveloped farms and as such do not benefit from the rehabilitation efforts of the UNVDA) and this is significantly impacted the yields</li>
<li>The new seeds provided by the UNVDA has mixed results, due to the issues experienced with irrigation. The new seeds actually under perform in situations where irrigation is poor</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>Therefore we concluded that our initial analysis is still valid, and that the problems we saw in the field and documented, are still problems faced by the farmers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Please revert with your comments - we are interested in your observations of current conditions in the cultivation of rice in Ngoketunjia.</p>
<p> </p>The Problemtag:ndop-rice.ning.com,2008-12-01:2381536:BlogPost:1812008-12-01T07:30:00.000ZTamarahttp://ndop-rice.ning.com/profile/Tamara
<p><b>BACKGROUND: Farmers increasingly develop their own farms and as such lack basic infrastructure such as irrigation and access roads</b></p>
<p><br></br><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923876?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923876?profile=original" width="500"></img></a> <br></br> Ndop rice is grown in the swampy alluvial Ndop plains in the Ngoketunjia Division in the North West Province of Cameroon. According to official statistics, rice farming currently occupies approximately 2,500 hectares…</p>
<p><b>BACKGROUND: Farmers increasingly develop their own farms and as such lack basic infrastructure such as irrigation and access roads</b></p>
<p><br/><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923876?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923876?profile=original" width="500"/></a> <br/> Ndop rice is grown in the swampy alluvial Ndop plains in the Ngoketunjia Division in the North West Province of Cameroon. According to official statistics, rice farming currently occupies approximately 2,500 hectares involving over 8,500 farmers (of which approximately 50% are women). Yet, this is less than 25% of the land thought to be available in the plains for rice farming and a fraction of the land thought to be available in the neighbouring regions. Although Cameroon is a net importer of rice (in 2007 the Cameroon spent 80 billion francs importing rice), Cameroon still exports rice to the neighbouring central Africa countries including Chad, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.<br/> <br/> Rice farming is split between the developed farms and the traditional (underdeveloped) farms. The developed farms have been prepared by the government rice corporation, the UNVDA.<br/>
<br/>
The UNVDA (Uppen Nun Valley Development Authority) was set-up by the government of Cameroon for the development of the rice sector in Ngoketunjia (in the catchments of the Nun River). As such during the UNVDA’s 1977 Land Development Program over 2500 hectares of land was developed (of which 1800 hectares is currently being cultivated). The land was cleared and leveled and irrigated by a network of canals sourced by a dam.<br/>
<br/>
However since 1988 the UNVDA’s role changed and the organization in its original form was liquidated. As such the infrastructure has been neglected and the farmers have not receive any technical services. It was only in 2006 that the UNVDA resumed its field work and training. Yet, the UNVDA is chronically under resourced. 12 UNVDA rice inspectors cover an area of approximately 2,500 hectares.<br/>
<br/>
In contrast the traditional farms are estimated at 700 hectares or approximately 30% of the area used for rice cultivation (according to official statistics). However, this is the growth venue within the rice farming activities in Ngoketunjia and this figure does not capture some of the newest farming areas.<br/>
<br/>
For the traditional farms, the land is prepared by the farmers themselves. As such the traditional farms may be lacking in basic infrastructure such as access roads and a well developed irrigation system. For example the farmers may irrigate their fields by breaking the banks of connecting farms to the river and thereby by flooding the entire area. As such the situations may arise where some fields are dry whilst some fields are over flooded. Water level fluctuates and in some cases the fertilizers get washed away. Furthermore, situations have arisen whereby the river has OVERFLOWN and broken its banks and destroyed the farms (at times 10's of farms at a time).<br/>
<b><br/>
METHODOLOGY</b><br/>
We picked 4 farmers groups and administered a questionnaire to each member of the group.<br/>
<b><br/>
MAIN RESULTS</b><br/>
<br/>
We surveyed 104 farmers (73% women) over 185 farms. This is what we found.<br/>
For the agricultural year of 2007/2008:<br/>
• the farmers had applied fertilizers to 62% of their farms<br/>
• however, the recommended fertilizer application is to use N-P-K and UREA. The farmers have only applied both N-P-K and UREA to 23% of their farms<br/>
• the recommended volume of fertilizer application is 300 kg/hectare. 54% of farmers had applied 150kg/hectare or less. Only 17% of farmers have applied over 250 kg/hectare.<br/>
• the farmers had only applied herbicides and pesticides to 44% of their farms<br/>
• the farmers had only applied manure or compost to 33% of their farms<br/>
• 9% of farms were leveled using tractors, otherwise farmers rely on hoes and matchettes for their work<br/>
We asked farmers about their other problems and we found the following:<br/>
• 53% of farmers have problems with irrigation<br/>
• 73% of farmers have big problems with pests and animals<br/>
• 42% of farmers do not have adequate access roads<br/>
• 64% of farmers have not had training on the cultivation of rice<br/>
Then we asked them about their harvest last year and we found that only 2% of the farmers surveyed had reached or exceeded the expected yield of 6 tonnes/hectare.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2541923946?profile=original" width="467" height="290"/></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img/></p>