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Vol. 8., No. 2 |
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NECOFA NEWSLETTER
Capacity Building International, Germany ( Established through the merger of CDG II and DSE ) InWEnt gGmbH Rural and Agricultural Development, Development Management Division Wielinger Str. 52 D-82340 Feldafing Germany Tel: ++49 8157 / 938 - 0 Fax: ++49 8157 / 938 - 777 email: feldafing@inwent.org
and : |
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International Centre North South Dialogue
P.O.Box 1361 D-37203 Witzenhausen Germany Tel: ++49 5542 / 502 - 9173 Fax: ++49 5542 / 502 - 9175 email: info@icnsd.org |
Sahle Tesfai ( ICNSD )
Hartmut Gast ( InWEnt )
NECOFA Ghana, has been undertaking some activities in the country especially in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Greater Accra regions. Most of the activities are based on extension work in Ecofarming. Advice is usually given on the use of organic materials to farmers for the fertilization of their crops especially vegetables.
Training for twenty-four American Peace corps from the various parts of the country on some aspects of organic farming was done in Sunyani.
Plans are in progress to introduce neem oil to some farmers in the preservation of cowpeas.
Some project training activities are described below
Resource Persons
Materials needed
1. Broom
2. Straw mat
3. Cowpea
4. Jute bags
5. Transparent sheet
6. Stones, wood
PROCEDURE
Select an open area with no shade
Sweep it clean
Bring straw mat
Place mat on clean area
Shake jute sack well
Place jute bags on mat
Pour cowpea on jute bags
Spread cowpea evenly (thin layer of cowpea)
Use finger to check
Place transparent sheet on cowpea
Use stones, wood to weigh down edges of sheet
Leave cowpea in the sun all day but keep animals away
Repeat once a month during storage
SOLARISATION uses the heat of the sun to kill the cowpea beetle on outside cowpea
PLANT TEA AND LIQUID MANURE
INTRODUCTION
Since Nitrogen is one of the major elements required for plant growth and since it is also one of the most limiting nutrients in most agricultural soils in Ghana, the importance of any technology that produces, enhances or conserves the use of the element cannot be over emphasized.
Plant Tea and Liquid Manure become necessary when plants have damaged roots (especially during transplanting of seedlings) such that they cannot be fed by the soil. They can also be used to boost up plant growth. Under very dry conditions, liquid manure becomes more desirable and efficient.
PLANT TEA PREPARATION
MATERIALS REQUIRED
1. An empty drum
2. Water
3. Green vegetation-plants that are high in nitrogen content
eg.. Confrey,Stinging nettle, Tithonia,Casuarina,Leguminous Trees, Caliandra, Sesbania, Amarantus, Beans (Cowpea) etc, etc
Take new, up and coming and succulent shoots and leaves (choose the leaves that have just emerged).
PROCEDURE
1. Chop the vegetables materials into smaller pieces
2. Put the materials in a drum to three quarters full
3. Fill the drum with water (to the brim)
4. Cover the drum/container with a sack/polythene sheet
5. Stir the content every three days using a stick
6. The plant tea is ready for use after 10 days (the content would have changed colour)
APPLICATION
1. Dilute the Tea with water in the ratio of 1:2 for older plants and 1:4 for young seedlings
2. Apply to the plant around the base/ root zone
3. Cover with soil to conserve the Nitrogen
4. Apply about one glass/cup (150 ml per plant)
N/B Foliar application is not advisable
LIQUID MANURE
MATERIALS REQUIRED
1. An empty drum (200 liters)
2. Fresh animal droppings or dung
3. A jute sack
4. A piece of stick or strong pole
5. Polythene sheet/fertilizer bag
6. Nylon string
PROCEDURE
1. Put the fresh animal droppings/dung in a bag or jute sack (50kg per 200 liters drum)
2. The following can be used solely or in combination-Chicken, Rabbit, Pig, Cattle, Sheep and Goat. Non-ruminants tend to have higher Nitrogen content than the ruminants.
3. Suspend the bag (containing the dung) in the drum by fastening it on the pole
4. Fill up the drum with water and cover
5. Shake up the bag every three days (this helps the nutrient release or dissolution of the manure/dung
6. The solution would change colour and be ready for use in 10-14 days
APPLICATIONN
1. Dilute in the ratio of 1:2
2. Apply around the root zone as indicated
COMPOSTING AND COMPOST APPLICATION
INTRODUCTION
Composting is the process of active biological and chemical decomposition and conversion of plant or organic matter / residues to produce humus. Composting may be conducted in heaps or pits under controlled conditions
It is basically a process of organic matter recycling meant for soil fertility improvement
There are two types of compost Heap and Pit
Some functions of the compost fertilizer:
1. Nutrients supply
2. Improves soil fertility
3. Reduces soil erosion
4. Helps to retain soil moisture
5. Improves crop yield
6. Can be used as mulch
7. Stimulation of soil organisms
8. Soil structure improvement
9. Enhancing crop resistance
MATERIALS THAT CAN BE USED FOR COMPOST
Dry organic materials like stems of cereals, grasses, small tree branches, dry weed etc.
Green/Fresh Organic Materials like damaged vegetables, cassava, plantain and vegetable peelings, fresh weed or legume.
Wood Ash and/or sawdust. Ashes contain valuable minerals not destroyed by fire. These include potash, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium. Phosphorus stimulates soil bacterial and therefore helps the rotting process. Another important function of ashes is acid neutralization.
Animal Manure from poultry, goats, sheep, swine, etc.
Paper & cardboard like newspaper, old/damaged books
Water
HOW TO BUILD COMPOST HEAP
1. Measure an area of 2.5m long 1.5m wide and dig 60 cm deep
2. First place chopped dry materials that are difficult to rot for about 10 cm thick at the base of the pit to start with. This will ensure good air circulation and drainage.
3. Sprinkle water on it before continuing
4. Add a layer of chopped fresh materials 10 cm thick for faster decomposition.
5. Spread a layer of animal manure or old compost of about 2 cm thick on it. This has high nitrogen content and it is moderately moist to accelerate decomposition
6. Sprinkle ash (10 handful) on the materials to accelerate the process of decomposition
7. Spread topsoil of about 1 cm thick. This adds microbes to the compost
8. Water the pile well
9. Repeat the layers except the first layer of coarse materials.
10. Insert a long stick in the middle of the compost
11. Remove the stick and feel it after 36 hours to find out whether decomposition is taking place. The temperature of a compost heap can become very high especially during the first month. During this time you have to make sure that the heap is moist enough.
12. A very hot stick indicates that decomposition is going on
13. A cold stick indicates that no decomposition is going on
TURNING THE COMPOST
Within 2-4 weeks after the compost is made and depending on the prevailing weather conditions and composting materials, the first turning should be done.
Turning the heap will replace the oxygen supply and will ensure that the materials on the outside also decomposes well.
A pit to the size of the first pit should be made so that the compost could be turned into.
The second turning should be done 2-4 weeks after the first turning and the last turning should be done 2-4 weeks after the second turning.
STORAGE
It can be stored in a shady place or put in sacks and store under shade till is needed for use.
THE OPEN HEAP METHOD
Compost can also be made just on the ground without digging pits
PROCEDURE
1. Measure an area of the same size as the pit composting method
2. Arrange your materials in the same size as the pit method
3. The height of the heap should be about 1 m and not exceed 1.5 m
4. Mulch the heap with dry leaves and insert the thermometer (the stick) into the pile
The Preservation of Cowpeas with Neem oil
Neem tree is a very useful tree when it comes to agriculture. The trees resistance to drought and rapid growth makes it suitable for this climatic zone. A lot of uses can be obtained from this tree. The tree itself is medicinal. The oil from the seeds can also be used to preserve legumes.
Extraction of neem oil from the fruits
Pick ripe fruits from under the tree.
Wash and dry them for a few days.
Shell a handful of seeds at a time by pounding gently in a mortar to crush kernels.
Winnow to remove the shells.
Remove rotten seeds from the lot.
Pound brown kernels into brown and slightly sticky powder.
Add suitable amount of water to make it easy to knead in order to squeeze out the oil.
100-150ml oil can be extracted from a kg of neem seeds.
Treatment of cowpeas with Neem oil
1 kg = 2-3ml of oil.
100kg = 250ml
By Priscilla Nzamalu
Gender is the social differences (roles) between male and female. It is constructed by society and is dynamic.
On the other hand sex is morphological and cannot be changed.
Gender is influenced by the mind set of people. It can be changed by:
Any development activity should start with gender analysis (white and black, poor or rich, abled or disabled etc.)
Gender issues has often been confused / replaced by women instead of roles.
There is need to know why and who is doing what (analysis) before planning .to get a better understanding of roles, culture in reality.
We plan in order to improve and address the needs of male and female in society.
Gender is one way to understand culture.
Example of problems:
How to bring gender issues in the logical framework? ie. Mainstream gender throughout the logframe?
In pre-assumptions eg that women will attend planned meetings
Ensure you are specific in indication target group eg. Male and female cassava farmers in XX district
Clarity on who the project is targeting eg. Using sex disaggregated indicators
| PDF-Pri-Logm-Gender.pdf |
Group: Gaia Foundation, Netherlands
February 2006
A new and extremely important report has come out today from GRAIN, about the mistaken policy analysis and debate surrounding the current Bird Flu crisis.
While panic in the media and at government levels is focused on the threat from migratory birds and small-scale free-range poultry operations, the real reason for the development and spread of the disease has been quietly ignored.
The GRAIN report shows that emergence of bird flu follows the global poultry industry's movements - and NOT migratory bird movements. The large-scale, confined, and frankly disgusting, factory farming conditions that characterise the global poultry industry are likely to be the real cause of the mutation of bird flu into its deadly form. The widespread movements of the industry's chickens and hatching eggs, are likely to be the cause of its spread.
Small-scale, free-range poultry farms and migratory wild birds are however being unfairly blamed for the crisis.
This report is therefore extremely important in the current debate about bird flu, especially as authorities prepare their policies. If wild birds and free-range operations are incorrectly identified as the problem, we are looking at a situation that not only fails to address the problems, but could have disastrous consequences for biodiversity, farmers' livelihoods, and livestock diversity.
"A burning question is why governments and international agencies, like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), are doing nothing to investigate how the factory farms and their byproducts, such as animal feed and manure, spread the virus," says Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN.
Please find the report attached here, and available at www.grain.org. Please ensure that it gets widely circulated to colleagues, policy makers and media in your country. With the recent discovery of Bird Flu in Nigeria, policy makers in Africa may be nearing a state of panic, and they need all the relevant information they can get.
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