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ECHO North America Docent Resources

This collection contains resources that explain the details and methods behind the demonstrations contained on the ECHO North America Regional Impact Center Demonstration farm. If tour docents want to learn more about specific demonstrations, they should start with the materials in this collection. 

  1. Perennial Vegetables and Nutrition

    20.01.2021 Perennial vegetables are a class of crops with great potential to address challenges like dietary deficiencies, lack of crop biodiversity, and climate change. Though some individual plant species have received significant attention (e.g.moringa), as a class, perennial vegetables have been largely...
    Perennial Vegetables Nutritional Value Nutrition

  2. Chaya

    Key Resource
    01.01.2006 Dr. Martin Price, co-founder of ECHO and former head of ECHO’s Agricultural Resources Department, has said, “I would consider chaya to be one of the five most important underutilized food plants ECHO distributes. I give it this rank because of its ability to thrive in both arid and rainy regions,...
    Chaya Cnidosculous chaya... Underutilized Crops

  3. The Moringa Tree

    Key Resource
    01.06.1985 The moringa tree, Moringa oleifera, has probably been the most popular plant in ECHO's seed bank of underutilized tropical crops. The tree is native to India but has been planted around the world and is naturalized in many locales. Moringa goes by many names. In the Philippines, where the leaves...
    Moringa oleifera Moringa stenopetala Moringa Seed Moringaceae India

  4. Moringa Leaf Powder

    Key Resource
    20.01.2005 The leaves of the Moringa oleifera tree are very nutritious. They can be consumed fresh, cooked or dried. Since dried Moringaleaves retain their nutrient content, it is possible to convert them into leaf powder. When there is an abundance of leaves, this leaf powder can be made and stored easily....
    HIV/AIDS Moringa Nutrient Retention

  5. Moringa Water Treatment

    Key Resource
    01.03.2005 In addition to food, shelter and clothing, water is one of our basic human needs and lack of potable water is a major cause of death and disease in our world. The purpose of this document is to provide information on household water treatment using seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree. Using...
    Moringa Moringa oleifera Moringa Seed Water Treatment

  6. Katuk

    Katuk is a perennial shrub native to the lowland, rainforest understory of the warm tropics. It is a familiar plant in home gardens in the wetter parts of Southeast Asia. It grows up to 3.5 m unless pruned. Katuk leaves are compound, with each leaf comprised of dark green, oval-shaped leaflets...
    Leafy Vegetables Sauropus androgynus

  7. 100-Fold Gardens in Honduras

    14.04.2020 This article is an update about 100-fold gardens being built in Honduras. Dan Sikkink gives perspective and photos of contextualizing the technique to fit the local context.
    100-Fold Gardens

  8. 100-Fold Vegetable Gardens with Low-Cost Wicking Beds

    Key Resource
    23.07.2019 I discovered 100-fold gardens while researching ways to irrigate plants directly in the root zone. I wanted to know how to practically and affordably control some of the variables that influence plant growth, such as water availability and soil fertility. I read about “wicking beds,” which are...
    Dryland Farming Wick Irrigation Low Maintenance ga... Garden structures ...

  9. Water Harvesting At Household Level: Building a 10,000 liter HAFIR

    06.03.2014 The HAFIR is an underground reservoir designed for storing rain water.Hafirs are usually constructed where there is enough rainfall and where there is no underground water.It is usually big enough to cater for the needs of the villagers and their live-stock for a whole season.
    Water Conservation East Africa

  10. Is Drip Irrigation Right for Me?

    06.01.2023 Drip irrigation and its associated practices allow farmers to supply water to crop roots according to plant needs. Technicians promote drip irrigation for water conservation, weed control, plant disease reduction, and erosion control. Drip irrigation can be implemented in various locations on...
    Drip Irrigation Irrigation

  11. Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT)

    Key Resource
    01.01.2012 Asia makes up less than one third (30%) of the world’s land area and yet carries over half (56%) of the world’s population. Moreover, the average population density of Asia becomes a significant long-term problem when food production is considered. Some countries in Asia have a population density...
    Terracing A-Frame Level SALT Highland Farming Land Management Sloping Agricultur... Soil Degradation Agroforestry

  12. Resilient Bamboo

    23.10.2017 In September, ECHO’s Global Farm in Florida faced a fairly direct hit by Hurricane Irma. In the aftermath, one thing is abundantly clear – some things fall down and some things don’t (see our short video, After Hurricane Irma). This fact is relevant to our efforts to promote resilient farms and...
    Bamboo Resilience

  13. Animal Production Litter Systems

    Key Resource
    21.11.2023 Litter systems are an approach to hygienic, integrated animal production in which animals are raised in an enclosed space on a floor of organic bedding. Systems with thick bedding material are sometimes called deep litter systems. Litter systems allow you to prioritize animal health by providing...
    Deep Litter

  14. Zai Pit System

    Key Resource
    01.01.2013 “Zai” is a term that farmers in northern Burkina Faso use to refer to small planting pits that typically measure 20-30 cm in width, are 10-20 cm deep and spaced 60-80 cm apart. In the Tahoua region of Niger, the haussa word “tassa” is used. English terms used to decribe zai pits include “planting...
    Zai Pit Zai Hole Cereals Microcatchment

  15. Foundations for Farming (FFF)

    Key Resource
    01.01.2012 Dawn Berkelaar, working with Dr. Martin Price and Danny Blank, featured this farming system in EDN 98. At that time, the technique was known as “Farming God’s Way” (FGW). Subsequently, the name was changed to “Foundations for Farming” (FFF); however, it continues to also be promoted as FGW. FGW...
    FFF Foundations For Fa... Conservation Agric... FGW

  16. Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

    Key Resource
    01.01.2010 For many years, conventional Western forestry methods have been applied, and exotic tree species promoted in Sahelian countries in order to combat desertification. Large and small projects were commissioned to curtail the assumed southward movement of the Sahara desert, but few made any lasting...
    FMNR Agroforestry Apple Ring Acacia Farmer Managed Nat...

  17. SRI, the System of Rice Intensification: Less Can be More

    Key Resource
    21.09.2015 The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a method of raising rice that produces substantially higher yields with the planting of far fewer seedlings and the use of fewer inputs than either traditional methods (i.e., flooding) or more “modern” methods (using mineral fertilizer or...
    SRI System of Rice Int... SCI System of Crop Int...