Extending the Growing Season

Ideas on how to move toward year-round production through perennial crops and

innovative farming practices.

Danny Blank, ECHO Farm Manager

ECHO Asia Conference, 2009

Percentage of Population Undernourished

Main Themes of Presentation

1)Current challenges facing small-scale farmers

2) Risk of depending on rainy season production alone in tropics

3) Strategies for extending the season beyond the rainy season yr. round production

4) Encourage you to help others expand their vision!

Small scale farms and farm families

•Usually less than 2 ha. (1 ha. = 2.5 acres).

•Dependent largely on the food they grow for sustenance

•Usually have limited capital

•Poverty and food insecurity common

•Use fuelwood or crop residues for cooking

•Physically demanding lifestyle

Average Maize Production in tons/ha

Countries/ Regions of interest:

• Italy 9.6 t/ha• U.S. 8.3• Argentina 5.3• China 4.9• Mexico 2.4• Africa 1.6• C.A.+ Carib. 1.4• Malawi 1.4 • Honduras 1.3• Mozambique 0.9• Haiti 0.8• World aver. 4.3• (2000 CIMMYT World Maize Facts and Trends)

Example of risk when depending upon rainy season production alone for year food supply in tropics

One hectare farm example (Africa, Asia average farm size 1.6 ha):• Farm sizes are small, limiting overall production potential

• Minimum of 1.2 tonnes maize per year needed to feed family

• If farmer yields 1.5 t/ha. (average for Africa, Central America, and Caribbean), barely achieve minimum of 1.2 t needed

• If average is 1.5 t/ha, many farmers achieving well below average

• What about drought, pestilence, post harvest loss, income needs, etc.?

• The margin of error is small … and this is one reason families struggle repeatedly to move beyond subsistence-level, especially when production is confined to mainly the rainy season.

• Food aid can further complicate the situation leading to further degradation of self worth and family values

How are more safety nets created and encouraged?

1. Enabling farmers to improve rainy season production. 2. We want to help farmers find innovative ways to produce

food and income during the dry season

3. Enabling farmers through perennial based systems to take greater advantage of the entire 12 months.

It means greater diversity, a strong dependence on perennials, and integration on small farms –extending the

growing season to year round production.

It also means dealing with the very real challenges

Limited availability of water

Free ranging animals

Fire

Other reasons may include cultural and personal; off-season jobs such as thatching, construction, brick making; weddings

and social activities; and lack of knowledge and capital.

We must really understand what are the major constraints to dry season activity and year round production systems before we can promote sensible, sustainable solutions.

Extending the Growing Season

• Farming practices• Fuelwood• Fencing• Forage• Fruit• Foliage– perennial greens

Farming Practices that Extend the Season

1.Soil Coverage

• Mulching

• GM/CC

2.Succession and/or relay plant

3.Water storage

4. Irrigation technologies

5.Sunken gardens/ fields

6.Tire gardens

1. Soil Coverage

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch!!!

Fourfold increase in maize since moving to no-till and no burning

Rock mulch, ECHO

Brian Oldreive

No-till, mulch based farming:

Foundations for Farming (FFF)

Former way of farming...

Burning and tillage

High cost

Declining yields

Low profit margin

Results ultimately in a wasteland!

Foundations For Farming…

Zero TillageZero Tillage

MulchingMulching

Biblical TrainingBiblical Training

ManagementManagement - excellence- excellence - on time- on time - no waste - no waste

Results in abundance!

Permanent planting stations

God’s blanket

Leave crop residue, reopen planting station during dry season and “give back to receive.” (i.e. soil cover, fertilizer, manure, and/or termite hill soil)

Manure and/or fertilizer is added to planting station

Plant into improved planting station and mulch blanket

Also known as CF or Conservation Farming. National policy of Lesotho. Hired by World Bank and FAO– has instructed in 12 African nations.

Farmer in Mozambique

FOUNDATIONS FOR

FARMING

TRADITIONAL

FOUNDATIONS FOR

FARMING

TRADITIONAL

FFF training center, Harare, Zimbabwe 7.2X 7.5 m demo. plot—2004 season 11.2 t/ha average

Green manure/ Cover crops,

ECHO

Velvet bean cover crop residue, Honduras

Annual undersowing of Pigeon Pea at ECHO

Showed no negative impact on maize yield in 1st year at ECHO vs. same size plot w/out pigeon pea.

Annual undersowing of pigeon pea planted at the same time as maize. Zambia

2. Succession or relay plant with drought tolerant crops

Seven year lima bean

Pigeon Pea

Lab lab

Tepary Bean

3. Water Storage

4. Irrigation Technologies

Drip irrigation, Ethiopia

Treadle Pump with sunken basins, ECHO,November 2, 2006

December 21, 2006

Second cropping of maize in dry season

4 Farmers share this pump on 2 acres rented land

They irrigate one full day a week

5. Sunken beds and fields

This approach involves planting in depressions. Advantages include:

1. Plants are protected from drying winds

2. There is increased soil moisture when planting lower

3. What rain does fall or irrigation added is better conserved

4. Organic matter accumulates in depressions so there can be more fertility

** Compaction is an important consideration

Meet Mr. Chinkhuntha, a brilliant farmer, who has truly extended the seasons.

Sunken fields

6. Tire Gardens

Farming Practices that Extend the Season

1.Soil Coverage

• Mulching

• GM/CC

2.Succession and/or relay plant

3.Water storage

4. Irrigation technologies

5.Sunken gardens/ fields

6.Tire gardens

Extending the Growing Season

• Farming practices• Fuelwood• Fencing• Forage• Fruit• Foliage– perennial greens

Fuel Wood Usage per household/yr:(in metric tonnes)

South Africa 5.3 mtIndia 2.8China 4.5Bhutan 12Ethiopia 5.5

1. Coppicing Woodlot

Gmelina arborea, Malawi

Acacia spp., Ethiopia

Eucalyptus spp., El Salvador

Senna, Leucaena, Neem woodlot, Haiti

Senna siamea, great coppicing tree.

Senna siamea woodlot, Haiti

Simarouba glauca woodlot, Haiti

Woodlot demonstration at ECHO, Leucaena

2. Planting borders

Planting a single line of trees on the border of 1 ha at 2 meter apart is

around 1/3 the density of a solid 1 ha. plantation planted at 4 m.

If you can achieve 30 ton/ha/yr average, then it might be possible to achieve 10 ton/yr by planting the border

alone, well above most family’s yearly need.

3. Trees on farm

Heavily pruned next to corn field

Extending the Growing Season

• Farming practices• Fuelwood• Fencing• Forage• Fruit• Foliage– perennial greens

Live and dead wood fencing for animal exclusion and other valuable products

An underestimated source of wood and forage

Mixed species fence protecting nursery on right, Haiti

Vetiver, sisal, and yucca fence and trench for goat and pig exclusion, C.A.R.

Cactus and barbed wire, Nicaragua

Livestock enclosure

formed by a living fence of a

thorny and unpalatable

Caesalpinia sp.

http://ppathw3.cals.cornell.edu/mba_project/livefence.html

Gumbo Limbo and barbed wire, Costa Rica www.tripsource.com/.../Emma/CostaRica/11.htm

Fencing is such a critical part of

extending the growing season. When animals

rule the landscape, scarcity is common and

the land’s productive potential rarely

achieved.

Extending the Growing Season

• Farming practices• Fuelwood• Fencing• Forage• Fruit• Foliage– perennial greens

Intensifying animal production with perennial forages

Forage bank of Calliandra, dry season, Zimbabwe

Nacedero, Rancho Ebenezer, dry season, 2004

Nacedero, Rancho Ebenezer, rainy season, 2008

Gliricidia, dry season, Honduras

Guazuma ulmifolia, dry season, Honduras

Hibiscus– an excellent forage

Tropical highland forage species, Ethiopia

Mulberry, Ethiopia,

Tree and Shrub Forage bank at ECHO

1. Leucaena leucocephala 5. Desmodium rensonii 9. Opuntia sp.

2. Leucaena diversifolia 6. Trichantera gigantea 10. Moringa oleifera

3. Calliandra calothrysus 7. Desmanthus virgatus 11. Guazuma ulmifolia

4. Gliricidia sepium 8. Bursera simaruba 12. Spondias mombin

Rancho Ebenezer, Nicaragua

Same slope 3-4 years later

Extending the Growing Season

• Farming practices• Fuelwood• Fencing• Forage• Fruit• Foliage– perennial greens

Fruits provide diverse food

options

danny80

Fruits are perennial providing long-term food production …Congolese village sustained by fruits during war

They provide valuable nutrition

They provide income

Fruits enhance the quality of life

They offer hope…

This gentleman in Central African Republic was so proud to show the young jackfruit tree bearing fruit.

danny34

Home Garden with mango, breadfruit, ambarella, canistel, and jackfruit, Congo

World Vision project Tacuba, El Salvador.

Promoting backyard fruit production

And small-scale fruit production.

World Relief Project, Nicaragua

Helping farmers damaged by Hurricane Mitch with

new crops such as grapes

2. The planning stage…Discovering options– Network!

Botanical gardens

Roadside markets

International organizations

Local discoveries

Government & Universities

NGOs & commmercial enterprises

danny77

Minister of Agriculture and missionaries, Central African Republic, 2001

3. Fruit Resources

Mango– a true gift from GodMango– a true gift from God

Begin with in-country resources

Don’t forget common fruits and their potential for

improvement

Extending the season with early and late maturing varieties

Avocado… the importance of different cultivars

Variety ‘Haas’–1,500 meters

Nicaragua

Carambola

Papaya– enormously productive

and underutilized

danny119

On 1.4 hectares, 110,000 kg. in 18 months

Bananas– ideas for improvementMulched bananas, height of dry season Mozambique

Trench or deep planting of bananas…

another simple means of improvement.

danny's pict12

Bananas in sinkhole, 45+ kg. bunch, Bahamas

Weeds and leaves piled high.

Dry season, Zambia

danny82

Consider lesser known species

danny27

Jackfruit– an underutilized

fruit

The largest tree fruit in the

world!

danny28

Canistel

Mamey Sapote

Santol

Consider even minor fruits like the

Peanut Butter Fruit.

This tree grows rapidly and begins bearing in about 1

year from seed

Barbados Cherry

Understanding Importance of Climate and

Altitude

Rollinia

Atemoya

Custard Apple

Pulusan

Rambutan

danny131

Lychee

Genep

Apples at 1800 meters (6,000 feet), Zimbabwe

Peaches at 1800 meters, Zimbabwe

Identify species and cultivars with high potential for improvement and

success

Improved giant Jujube from Thailand

Macadamia

danny44 4. The Importance of Fruit Collections

Citrus Collection, Malawi

Fruit resource center for World Relief, Nicaragua

Approximately 1500 meters (5,000’)

5. Observation and Evaluation

6. Nursery program and infrastructure

Some may require special

propagation techniques

such as grafting

7. Distribution and Promotion

8. Training people… in how to care and plant

How to propagate and start your own fruit tree nurseries

Training in fence construction

Or protecting individual trees

Extending the Growing Season

• Farming practices• Fuelwood• Fencing• Forage• Fruit• Foliage– perennial greens

Chaya, Bahamas

Chaya hedgerow, ruminant feed and delicious cooked

green, ECHO

Chaya, Zimbabwe

Moringa oleifera, Mozambique

Moringa leaf production, Zimbabwe

Moringa leaf production, MPP, Haiti

Garlic chives, ECHO

Malabar spinach, Mozambique

Basket Vine, Trichostigma

octandrum, Edible leaf, also good rabbit forage

Extending the Growing Season

• Farming practices• Fuelwood• Fencing• Forage• Fruit• Foliage– perennial greens

Summary

1) Current challenges facing small-scale farmers… Small farms, declining fertility, low yields, huge wood needs, poor landcare practices, etc.

2) Risk of depending on rainy season alone in tropics.

3) Importance of extending the season beyond the rainy season.

* Innovative farming practicesMulch, irrigation cisterns, drip irrig., tire gardens

*Emphasis on year round cropping with perennials Fuel, fences, forage, fruit, foliage

* Diversification, intensification, and integration of small scale farms

4) Encourage you to help others expand their vision!

My people perish for lack of My people perish for lack of visionvision

God bless you as you communicate the vision of God’s

intended abundance for

people’s lives and in their land.

Extending the Season with Fruits

God bless you as you communicate the vision of God’s

intended abundance for people’s lives and

in their land.

Remember even with the common

fruits to think about extending the season with

early and late maturing varieties

Pitaya, also known as Dragonfruit