Research - Posters

Perennial Peanut Living Mulch for Low Input Sorghum and Millet Production - 20.11.2018

Grain sorghum(Sorghum bicolor)and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)are both globally important warm-season,annual cereal grain crops.Small-scale farmers who grow these grains can belimited by access to fertilizers and human labor. Agricultural low input systems use few commercial inputs, alternative nutrient sources, and weed suppression methods that can save labor.

Living mulch is a cover crop that is not killed before planting the target crop. Instead, it is maintained as a ground cover throughout and between growing seasons. Perennial rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata; PP) is a warm-season,  nitrogen-fixing legume used as a living mulch in citrus and vegetable production systems. A stand of PP is low-growing and can remain established for many years, so it is a good living mulch candidate.

When multiple plants exist in an agricultural system, species compete for limited sunlight, moisture, and nutrients. Selecting a seedbed preparation method to suppress PP living mulch before planting sorghum or millet is a vital planning step to reduce competition and improve grain yields. 

Agriculture and Spiritual Leadership - 20.11.2018

INTERIOR:
How does farming expand a spiritual leader’s understanding of self, faith and vocation?
EXTERIOR:
How does farming expand a spiritual leader’s understanding of creation, people and culture?

Maize Biomass and Soil Microbial Respiration with Indigenous (IMO) and Effective (EM) Microorganisms - 20.11.2018

Natural farming techniques have been heavily promoted in ECHO’s Asia network. The aim of these techniques is to reduce reliance on chemical inputs by enriching soils with beneficial microorganisms. Soil microbes break down organic matter, releasing nutrients for uptake by crop roots. They also enhance soil structure, helping soil particles stick together.

 Indigenous microorganisms (IMO) are cultured from naturally occurring soil life. Derived from native soil, IMOs can be made by farmers themselves. The mix of organism present, however, can vary depending on location and seasonal conditions. Effective microorganisms (EM) is a commercially available product with a mix of laboratory- cultured microorganisms. An advantage of EM, therefore, is a consistent mix of microbial life.

Microbial amendments are usually added along with compost or plant-based mulch. It is often unclear as to whether the benefit to crops is from the IMO or EM versus the added organic material. There is a need for long-term research on the effectiveness of IMO and EM, as well as information on affordable ways to quantify the effects of amendments on soil biology.

Poster - Legume Selection - 01.11.2017

By integrating legumes intoc ropping systems, small-scale farmers in low-resource settings can invest in the long-term health and resilience of their soils. Success or failure depends largely on choosing the right legume(s). Selection or screening trials are use ful experiments that direct appropriate legume selection in context of local conditions. ECHO utilized GMCC screening trial to improve our understanding of how climate influences legume growth, in turn, enhancing our ability to respond to legume selection inquiries. Work was done in partnership with individuals/organizations serving small-scale farmers.Improve our understanding of how climate influences legume growth, in turn, enhancing our ability to respond to legume selection inquiries. Work was done in partnership with individuals/organizations serving small-scale farmers.

The data from these studies is also available as an interactive online tool. 

Poster - Domestic Techniques to Maximize Plant-based Nutrition - FARM STEW - 01.11.2017

A large percentage of the world's hungry people are primarily vegetarians, and even vegans, either due to religion or poverty. Although some might find that a sad fact, the reality is that a whole foods, plant-based diet can produce the world's healthiest people, as a National Geographic reporter Dan Buettner found in researching the "Blue Zones." These are the 5 places in the world "that had not only high concentrations of 100-year­olds but also clusters of people who had grown old without diseases like heart problems, obesity, cancer, or diabetes." Each location had a primarily plant-based diet and other factors. 

Poster - Maize/Legume Intercrop Based on IITA 2-4-2 Design

The 2:4 maize–double cowpea system consists of 4 rows of cowpea and 2 rows of maize, all planted on the same day. The second cowpea crop is planted after the first has been harvested (about 60 days after planting).¹ The maize and cowpea are densely planted.

The objective of this trial is to gain first-hand experience while evaluating the feasibility of implementing 2-4-2 with other legumes. This poster describes design and provides priliminary data from the first year (2015).

¹H.A. Ajeigbe, B.B. Singh, A. Musa, J.O. Adeosun, R.S. Adamu, and D. Chikoye. 2010. Improved cowpea–cereal cropping systems: cereal–double cowpea system for the northern Guinea savanna zone. pp 17

Poster - Bio-char As a Replacement For Perlite in Seedling Mix For The Small-Scale Farmer - 01.11.2017

Can biochar replace perlite in seedling mix?

• Perlite is light weight, sterile, porous, increases drainage, improves aeration, and helps to keep soil unsaturated and un-compacted.
• Bio-Char is light-weight, sterile, porous, and holds water without getting saturated, giving it the potential to function like perlite. Bio-char is even more similar to perlite’s counter part “vermiculite” when part of a soil mix.
• Biochar replacing perlite would address the need for a seedling soil mix for the small scale farmer that is low cost, widely accessible, non-toxic and does not compact or upheave.

Leah Hagen; Sue Klein
HEART Institute: 13895 Hwy 27 Lake Wales FL, 33859

Poster - Let's Raise Chickens for Profit! - 01.11.2017

While availability of food calories has paralleled human population growth in Rwanda, the supply of highly nutritious foods -such as complete protein, fats, and micronutrients -remain insufficient in the Rwandan diet.

Past research has shown the barriers to Rwandans raising chickens to be a lack of technical support, access to capital, and market access. Therefore, the TwororeInkoko, Twunguke(Kinyarwanda for: “Let’s raise chickens for profit!”) project aims to overcome these barriers through increasing the production of broiler chickens by smallholder farmers.

The 3-year pilot project uses a private-sector train-the-trainer extension model to build capacity of rural Rwandans in efficient poultry production. Chickens are raised in 100 bird flocks on a 9-week cycle (7 weeks grow-out + 2 weeks biosecurity/clean out) by resource-poor smallholders for sale and household consumption, with the goal of enrolling 750 producing households in Musanzedistrict. Through the provision of finance, technical support and guaranteed broiler buyback at the end of each grow-out cycle, the project is creating a sustainable model for small-scale broiler production, which can be scaled up throughout Rwanda and the region.

--  Tom Gill¹, Dave Ader¹, Amanda Kaeser¹, Emily Urban¹, Mike Smith¹ , Brynn Voy¹, Caela O’Connell¹, Dayton Lambert¹, Patricia Watkins¹, Susan Schexnayder¹, Eric Bisangwa¹, Matthew Karugarama², and Ritah Nshuti²

¹University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, ²Zamura Feeds Ltd.

Poster - CO2 and Biogas Applications for Controlling Pests in Seeds - 01.11.2017

Insect pests can result in substantial losses of stored seed. In West Africa, cowpea bruchids (Callasobruchus maculatus) caused up to 100 percent damage of cowpea seeds stored for a few months (Sallam 1999). Primary pests are those that, in larval stage, feed within intact kernels. Others, such as the saw-toothed grain beetle (Oryzaephillus sp.), are secondary pests that attack damaged seeds. Elevated carbon dioxide CO₂ levels have been shown to kill insect pests in sealed containers (Navarro 2006). Most insects in stored seeds are killed when the atmosphere in the room or container is comprised of 60% or more CO₂. Elevated CO₂ levels have little or no adverse effect on the germination of stored seeds (Gupta et al. 2014; Navarro et al. 2012).

Questions we wanted answers to are...

• Can household biogas systems be used to safely kill insects in stored seeds?
• Can a CO2 generator be made from simple materials be used to kill seed pests in storage containers?

Poster - 2-4-2 Update: Protocol for Farmer Field School Trialing (2017) - 01.11.2017

Green manures / covercrops (GMCCs) are widely recognized as having potential to help farmers improve crop yields and maintain high soil quality. Developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, 2-4-2 is an intercropping strategy in which two rows of maize are alternated with four rows of cowpea.

Building on findings of ECHO 2-4-2 field trials in southwest Florida, a protocol was developed for trialing 2-4-2 using the Farmer Field School (FFS) model. In a FFS, farmers are both learners and experts. Their participation in the research process is key to adoption of GMCC systems.