The second week of March was devoted to the move of the ECHO Asia Impact Center (our new name) to a new address approximately 800 meters from our previous location on the campus of Chiang Mai's McCormick Hospital. ECHO Asia is now renting a small house located behind the Arcade Bus Station; Chiang Mai's main bus terminal.
As we had begun to outgrow our old office, our goal was to find a new location that would be considerably roomier, not difficult for our visitors to find and also have space for a demonstration garden.
We're pleased to announce that the new place fits all three criteria. However, before we could begin gardening and demonstrating other backyard/urban farming techniques such as vermiculture and possibly catfish production in tanks, we had to get the outside in order. On moving day, the front yard was dry and barren with an old driveway and footpath that ate up almost 1/3 of the area. So our friend, Chanchai and his crew, busted up the concrete and carted off the larger pieces with the smaller pieces of concrete being hauled away and used to fill in ruts in the dirt road that leads to the seed bank.
After the concrete was removed, the front yard was divided into a few zones One area has been planted in perennial vegetables such as katuk (Sauropus androgynus ), chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius, also known as tree spinach; perhaps the first of its kind in Chiang Mai), moringa and red shoot fig (Ficus virens) as well as a permanent cover crop of perennial peanut (Arachis pintoi). This zone will also be planted into various viny vegetable varieties (winged bean, yardlong bean, bottle gourd, etc.) that will use the adjacent walls and fence as support.
The second zone is made up of 10 small plant beds, each approximately 1 x 2.5 m, which will host various vegetable crops being produced and distributed by the ECHO Asia Seed Bank. A liberal dose of composted, manure-rich rice husks (which had been used as bedding for several months in the pig pens at Partners' Farm) was applied to each bed. Zoysia grass was laid in walkways separating the bed.
Various container plants from the old McCormick office have been relocated along the carport. And the back corner of the property will serve as a nursery for a small amount of seedlings to be made available at the new office. This space is also being shared with a small semi-shaded garden already planted in vegetable fern, taro (with edible stems), Malabar spinach, snowflake tree (Trevesia palmata) and other local shade-tolerant vegetable crops.
A micro-sprinkler irrigation system has been installed throughout all the zones.
As we continue to settle in, we'll provide updates on the progress of the ECHO Asia garden and demonstration area.
By the way, the address of the new office is:
270/5 Soi 6
Thanon Tung Hotel
Chiang Mai 50000
The second seed fair related to the CRSP Hort Exploratory grant awarded to Pennsylvania State University, ECHO and Mae Jo University was held in the remote Mae Yao area of Chiang Rai province (northern Thailand) on February 29. Similar to the first seed swap event held a month prior in the Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai, 30 persons (22 women and eight men) from four local communities brought seeds for exchange. The half-day event included registration and a brief training/discussion related to improved seed production and saving techniques.
In comparison to the Chiang Dao activity, the CRSP team noticed significantly more interaction and exchange of seeds among the Mae Yao participants. As there is greater distance between the four communities that were represented as well as more ethnic diversity (i.e. Black Lahu, Yellow Lahu and Akha), seeds saved from garden crops being grown in that area might be more diverse compared to those in the Palaung communities of Chiang Dao. If so, greater crop diversity may have stimulated more interest in seed exchange.
The final CRSP-sponsored seed fair will be held in Cambodia during the last week of March.
In conjunction with the Hort CRSP Exploratory Grant (USAID supported) recently awarded to ECHO, Pennsylvania State and Mae Jo Universities, the first multi-community seed swap was held on January 27, 2011 at Pang Daeng Nawk community in Chiang Dao district (one hour north of Chiang Mai).
Held at the conclusion of the month-long Hort CRSP survey of household vegetable gardening and seed saving/sharing activities among four area communities, the seed swap event was attended by over 60 persons. Of 37 participants from three local communities, 21 persons brought 181 packets of seeds to share.
The most common varieties of seeds that were brought included various types of cucumber, long bean, eggplant, field beans, okra, winged bean and vegetable lablab. However, a few uncommon varieties showed up as well, including a very large type of lima bean and some grains such as job’s tear, sorghum and millet.
The ECHO Asia Seed Bank also distributed over 200 small sample packets of seeds.
One weakness of the seed swap was that the attendees were from communities that were not only nearby but of the same ethnic group (mainly Palaung). Therefore, as a whole the participants did not encounter many “new” varieties. This resulted in less inter-community seed sharing than hoped. However, we believe that increased ethnic diversity and distance will lead to more “exchangeability” in future ECHO seed swap events.
By the end of the day, in addition to a nice lunch, not only a significant number of seeds were shared, but a lot of socializing took place. And we hope that our Palaung friends went home feeling even more encouraged and determined to continue to save and share seeds of their precious crops.
Over 35 persons from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia and beyond met in a simple training hall on the Partners Thailand farm just outside of Chiang Mai. They were participating in the Three-Day Tropical Agriculture Workshop co-hosted by the ECHO Asia Regional Office and Partners Thailand from January 19-21, 2011. Participants gained hands-on training related to grafting fruit trees, the production of moringa and its products, soap making for development, natural farming of pigs and backyard mushroom production. Additionally, a vermiculture training session, led by Dr. Arnat Tancho, was held nearby on the campus of Mae Jo University.
Other sessions were led by Betsy Langford (former ECHO intern and currently a student at Chiang Mai University's SAIWAM Program), Partners personnel, Boonsong Thansrithong, Sombat Chalermliamthong and Dorothy Kahn, as well as myself.
Feedback from meeting participants indicated that the event was a success. Following this recent exchange of knowledge and skills related to agriculture and community development, I'm certain that participants will be extending what they have learned among their own local networks. Furthermore, I am excited about offering similar workshops for development workers in other Asian countries, beginning with Cambodia in 2012.
ECHO Asia is extremely grateful to Partners Thailand and Mae Jo University for their significant involvement in this event.
Among millions of rice growers throughout Asia, SRI rice production is still very much the exception rather than the rule. However, the promotion and adoption of the innovative approach in the region is quite widespread and growing. For more information about the status of SRI worldwide, check out this website, http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/index.html, maintained by the SRI International Network and Resources Center (SRI-Rice) with support from Jim Carrey's Better U Foundation and the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development.
In October, I had the opportunity to visit the Patharkhmah District, a focus area of NEICORD (http://www.neicord.org/) in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya. With support from CRWRC (http://www.crwrc.org/pages/crwrc.cfm) and the Food Resource Bank (http://www.foodsresourcebank.org/), the NEICORD team is promoting various food security projects in the district, including home gardening, SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology) and SRI.
Although NEICORD attempted a couple of trial plots last year, in 2010 they were basically starting their SRI programming from scratch. However, the project had done its homework by training their agricultural staff and key farmers in the basics of SRI during the dry season. By the beginning of the 2010 rainy season, 53 local farm families were prepared to experiment with SRI on their paddy land.
When I visited the NEICORD Patharkhmah project in October, the rice in the SRI trial plots was beginning to ripen. Inspecting the farms of several NEICORD partnering households, I was impressed with the overall quality of their SRI effort. Overwhelmingly, the farmers were satisfied with the SRI package of planting single young seedlings in hills arranged in straight rows that were widely spaced (between approximately 20-25 cm apart). During the time of my visit, in most fields the rice panicles were heavy with grain and the local farmers were giving the trial SRI plots high marks.
The early adopters also reported that managing water levels in the paddy to minimize flooding was not a problem. Less water in the paddy means more oxygen gets to the roots of rice plants, which promotes improved growth and production. On the other hand, with unflooded conditions, there were reports of more weeds in the fields. However, most of the farmers were able to control weeds with the simple SRI cono-weeders that are pushed between the rows of rice (see my earlier blog posting).
Regarding the early maturing rice, this was a bit of a problem as the rest of the rice in the area ripened 2-3 weeks later making the early ripening rice a target for hungry birds. You can see a video link of one farmer using a bamboo "clapper" that scares birds off. But having learned that SRI rice matures a bit earlier, the farmers simply plan to establish their SRI plots 2-3 weeks later next year.
I was impressed with NEICORD's 2010 efforts to promote SRI. I was also encouraged about the "adoptability" of SRI. To most rice growers the innovation is probably strange and counter-intuitive. But if seeing is believing, then the positive 2010 SRI results in Patharkhmah are probably going to yield more local adopters in 2011.
During our October visit to Phnom Penh, Stan Doerr and I had the chance to visit Jumpah Home on the outskirts of the city. Founded by Tim and Darlene Ratzloff almost 10 years ago, Jumpah activities help families living with HIV-AIDS as well as orphans and low income persons.
Providing care for the residents adds up to a considerable cost. To help supplement associated expenses, and to offer agricultural outreach to neighboring farmers, the Jumpah team grows vegetables and also raises dozens of pigs for the local market. The pig production component was particularly intriguing as the operation contains several inter-linked activities, each of which yielding essential products. In combination, these activities and related products appear to provide a significant degree of self-sufficiency for the institution.
For instance, within the well-maintained pig production units, manure and other wastes are continually collected for the production of biogas. Tim reports that the resulting biogas provides the home with cooking fuel as well as supplemental lighting.
In addition, the biogas fuels a mechanical chopper powered by a gasoline engine that finely slices a variety of forage materials used to supplement the pig feed. These forages include a lot of aquatic morning glory (Ipomoea aquatica) and sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas) as well as a some mulberry (Morus alba) and a little roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa). To view Pastor Chanta's brief explanation of the biogas system and to see the chopper in action, click on this link.
Additionally, much of the manure and other waste collected in a covered cesspool are occasionally pumped out with a treadle pump and released into the forage production areas. This keeps the forage plots moist, well fertilized and productive almost year-round .
Citing the capital and labor required to operate Jumpah's agricultural component as well as other costs, Tim refuses to boast about any savings attained by the production cycle of hogs, biogas, forages and natural fertilizer. But he admits that a foundation is being built for a significant degree of self-sufficiency.
For Stan and I, it was quite evident that Jumpah home has developed an impressive and productive multi-faceted farm component. We look forward to seeing what they do next.
A lot of people are working to bring positive change to communities, societies and the world. But in our business it's sometimes hard to see the forest for the trees. Working with the ECHO Asia Impact Center, I've been blessed with a certain vantage point. It's my goal to shed light on the good and practical that's being done to improve the circumstances of Asia's poor.
My wife, Ellen, and I have spent most of that past 25 years in S.E. Asia. In addition to earning BS and MS degrees in Plant and Soil Science (University of Tennessee), I spent two years (1985-1986) as an agricultural intern at the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center in the Philippines. Two years after our family moved to Thailand in 1994, we established the Upland Holistic Development Project (www.uhdp.org). UHDP focuses on improving the livelihoods of resource-poor upland families along the Thai-Burma border. Finally in 2009, we opened the ECHO Asia Impact Center in Chiang Mai, extending the presence and efforts of ECHO, based in Ft. Myers, Florida.
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