ECHO Northeast India Agricultural Conference

In early October, I traveled with Laura Yoder and Abram Bicksler (both with Chiang Mai's International Sustainable Development Studies Institute as well as ECHO Asia Seed Bank advisors) for the 2010 ECHO Northeast India Agricultural Conference that was held at the Indian Centre for Agricultural Research (ICAR) Research Complex near the city of Shillong. Jointly sponsored by Northeast India Committee on Relief and Development (NEICORD), and EDGE Outreach, this was the first national/regional agricultural and community development conference to be offered by the ECHO Asia Regional Office.

Approximately 50 persons attended, including delegates from 15 Northeast India development organizations and ministries.

ICAR personnel offered topics related to agricultural technological options for enhancing livelihood options for tribal farmers, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Integrated Crop Management as well as participatory plant breeding related to rice varieties for Northeast India.

Other presentations included a talk given by Dave Brothers about EDGE Outreach's water purification approach, Laura's introduction to farmer managed crop improvement and Abram's introduction to simple research methodologies for development workers.

Additionally, I had the chance to introduce the regional activities of ECHO and offer a presentation about green manure cover crops.

A very popular activity, also led by Laura Yoder, was a seed swap event. This session enabled crop seed and other plant material from eight regional plant varieties, as well as five types of ECHO Asia Seed Bank crops, to be exchanged among the participants.

Additionally, personnel from regional development projects, such as NEICORD and RATARC, shared case studies about the implementation of Sloping Land Agricultural Technology and FAITH Gardening in their focus communities.

The successful event would not have been possible without the facilitation of the NEICORD, particularly the involvement of Rev. Dr. H.M. Songate (CEO), and Joshi Tuisom, Manager of Relief and Development.

We're grateful for the involvement of ECHO’s partners in northeast India. This conference set the standard for future regional and national events to be held in various other locations in Asia.

Cono Weeder at Fair Earth Farm

Being involved in agricultural development work in Asia, obviously a major concern for ECHO Asia Regional Office clientel is rice production. A fairly recent rice farming innovation is known as SRI (System of Rice Intensification). Some key SRI distinctives include:

• Planting individual stalks of rice (aged 7-10 days) in widely spaced hills about 20-30 cm apart.
• Aerating the top soil and minimizing flooding of rice fields to increase the supply of oxygen to the rice plant root systems.
• Providing inputs of natural fertilizers (e.g. compost) and incorporating green manure cover crops to improve the fertility and structure of rice-producing soils.

When managed properly, the reduced plant competition, increased soil oxygen and improved soil conditions can offer some interesting results. For example, the number of tillers (stalks) produced by a single seedling in a SRI system can multiply to 20, 30 or more. This is much higher than the typical 10 to 15 tillers produced by a single hill of conventional rice that is usually established by transplanting several seedlings together.

Increased numbers of tillers generally translates into higher rice yields. Worldwide, SRI rice farmers are reporting increased yields that are 50% to 100% higher or even more (http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/) compared to conventional systems.

There are reported drawbacks to the system. Managing water levels to reduce flooding can be a challenge in many locations. Also, with reduced flooding, the consquence will be increased weed pressure.

Fortunately, appropriate technology has been developed to reduce the labor of weed removal. The cono weeder, a simple, hand-operated rotary cultivator, is one such innovoation. Reportedly developed at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, these machines are being mass produced and sold in various locations in Asia.

Unfortunately, until recently, SRI rice producers in norhern Thailand had no such implement available. But earlier in 2010, a group of 10 farmers and development organizations pooled an order for cono weeders from India. The ECHO Asia Regional Office helped to organize the pool and distribute the weeders.

So far, reports about the new weeders have been positive. The clip at the top is the Cono Weeder being used at Fair Earth farm (http://www.fairearthfarm.com/) just outside of Chiang Mai. Besides uprooting and incorporating weeds into the earth, the cultivator also aerates the soil, increasing the supply of air to rice plant root systems.

Spiders over Snakes

Here is James Manson, one of our interns, with a tarantula (Haploplema minax?) that the Seed Bank staff dug out of one of the seed production beds recently. When asked what they did with the spider, James said the staff decided to bury it back in the bed alive. Why? The staff replied, "Where there are tarantulas, there are no snakes." Apparently, they'll take the spider over snakes.

Incidentally, James also dispatched one of these in his room last month. Apparently, the tarantula/snake rule doesn't apply to James' domain.

Haploplema are burrowing spiders and can inflict a bad bite. Reportedly, the venom isn't fatal unless the hapless victim is particularly allergic.

And though we appreciate the conservation ethic of the Seed Bank staff, we also want James and others at the seed bank to be safe. Fortunately, despite his two recent encounters with tarantulas, sightings around the Seed Bank have been quite rare.

An Impressive Community Garden in Hawaii

As our family has done several times in the past, we recently stopped in Honolulu for a few days while on our way to the mainland United States. It was nice to visit old haunts such as Hanauma Bay and the Foster Botanical Garden.

One day while exploring behind Waikiki's Kapiolani Park I came across a new site; the Diamond Head Community Garden. I've visited quite a few community gardens but the Diamond Head collective stands out, partly due to the abundance of well tended plots (roughly 1 x 2 meters). What's most impressive is the enormous variety of plants found throughout the garden. Compared to other community gardens in the US, Diamond Head has the tropical advantage.

Of course, vegetables, herbs and a few types of fruit, such as papaya, make up the bulk of the plantings. But the garden species diversity includes a large mixture of Asian and Pacific island crops planted along with conventional American garden varieties. For example, among cherry tomatoes and Swiss chard were also bitter melon,Malabar spinach and false roselle (perhaps from ECHO?). I even encountered one plot planted exclusively in cassava and another covered with tropical vegetable fern. And, as expected, a good bid of Hawaiian taro was encountered as well.

Apparently, plots in this garden are in high demand as there was no ground left idle. A yearly rental fee (someone said $20) provides access to a plot and water. Not a bad deal.

Compost heaps could be found within the garden. And the personal decorative flourishes (including colorful bottles, pinwheels and other knickknacks) on display throughout the plots were as interesting as the plant biodiversity.

Our Partner's Partners

Recently, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) friends in Laos informed me that colleagues with the Lao Ministry of Agriculture are currently engaged in a one-month long special studies program at Chiang Mai University. The folks at CRWRC wondered if I might have time to take their friends to see local sustainable upland farming efforts, particularly green manure cover cropping and agroforestry, being carried out by farmers in the nearby Chiang Dao district.
As Sundays are the only free days for the two Lao men, we made plans for a May 16 field trip. Crops are usually in the ground by the first week of May. Unfortunately, since the monsoon rains have yet to materialize this year, field crops such as corn and upland rice are still not planted.

By the time we arrived in Pang Daeng Nai village, mid morning temps were already above 100 degrees F. (37.7 C) and our short hike to the permanent hill fields was not comfortable. Despite the heat and the bareness of the still unplanted farms, we were able to see how local farmers are making use of crop residues to partially cover the soil. By not burning their fields, farmers allow decomposing materials to increase levels of organic matter which enrich their top soil.

We also visited green agroforest plots. These biodiverse patches are helping to extend farm productivity, even during this current drought, while the rest of the land remains unplanted.

Being from this region, the Lao agriculturists had no problem talking to local farmers and understanding their innovations. Obviously, this trip was not wasted on them.

In fact, they plan to come back later in the year after crops have been established and the landscape has been transformed. They would like to bring other Lao colleagues to learn not only from the farmers at Pang Daeng Nai, but others in nearby communities where shade grown Arabica coffee is cultivated and where Thai natural farming techniques are used to boost farm productivity with local inputs.

Basically, partners lead to more partners. And this helps ECHO's network of hunger-fighting allies to grow.

Centipedes on the Prowl

Often when watering our vegetables or applying effluent from the catfish tank I encounter a centipede or two emerging from heads of the cabbages. They usually scurry over the heads, pausing every now and then to let the water shower over them.

One such centipede made such an appearance while I happened to have the camera handy. Check him out.

Fact is, I'm a bit skittish when it comes to centipedes, especially the 6-10 inch (15-30 cm) giants of northern Thailand. They're known to inflict a terribly painful bite that can result in massive swelling or worse. Some time ago my friend Jamlong was laid up for days by the bite of one of these giants.

Fortunately, my cabbage-dwelling centipedes are much smaller; 3 inches most. Another friend, Scott, doesn't think the small ones bite very hard (not that I'm aiming to find out).

Since I encounter them on the cabbages and under the litchi leaf garden bed mulch, I'm assuming they're on the prowl for insects and worms; hopefully the looper caterpillars that chew holes in the cabbage leaves.

So for the sake of our veggies, when it comes to smaller garden centipedes, I'm willing to live and let live.

Bamboo vs. Cats

A mischevious puppy led to the construction of a bamboo fence around our small home garden. But nature abhors a vacuum. The exclusion of dogs is just fine with our two cats not to mention others in the neighborhood. The felines think the soft soil in the garden beds makes a great sandbox. Unfortunately, not only do cats disturb our vegetable seedlings with their scratching but the presence of their waste is a health hazard.

No fence will keep the cats out. But other exclusion approaches have been successful. Bamboo slats cut to span the one-meter wide beds can be laid side-by-side a few centimeters apart to prevent cats from settling into the beds. Spaces between the slats can be easily adjusted to compensate for growing seedlings. And for even better cat exclusion, plastic mesh with wide holes, supported by bamboo slats, can be laid across beds until seedlings reach heights greater than 2-3 inches. As a bonus, both the closely spaced bamboo slats and plastic mesh also help to protect tender seedlings from the mid-day sun.

The bamboo and mesh are only needed for awhile as cats tend not to venture into beds filled with closely-spaced, larger plants. I wish the same applied to snails.