This report presents the main activities carried out by CIDICCO in collaboration with the MOIST Group of Cornell University.
Our activities during this year have concentrated in Honduras for several reasons. First, with the support of the USDA-Cornell Consortium, CIDICCO was able to hire Dr. Tito Livio Zuniga to coordinate several GMCC applied research opportunities that had been requested from CIDICCO during previous years. Such requests had not been met because of CIDICCO's lack of qualified personnel. The addition of Tito to CIDICCO's team has certainly enhanced the agency's networking role and contributed to building the technical capacity of field staff from some 16 agricultural agencies.
The issue of green manures/cover crops (GMCC) has become an axis to strengthen the technical capacity of agronomist and farmer extensionists working with extension-service provider agencies that operate in Honduras. This has happened in two ways. Firstly, via the facilitation of the regional network meetings of agencies working in Western Honduras. The meetings take place three times a year for the purpose of exchanging experiences on a particular GMCC that can be useful in the region. The number of groups joining the network grows larger with each meeting. One of the reasons is that, for the majority of technical personnel of the region, this meeting is the only systematic way to exchange experiences, receive technical updating, and to feel professionally identified with other fellow colleagues.
Secondly, CIDICCO has included as one of its main objectives, strengthening the capacity of the technically weak middle level agricultural schools in the country. So far, CIDICCO has several on-going activities with ENA. For example, CIDICCO has organized two workshops to discuss the use of the GMCC Dolichos with maize as a source of improved pastures for cattle. Technical personnel and small cattle growers from the vicinity of the school have attended both of these workshops. In addition, at least 20 GMCC plots have been established in the microbasin of Río Talgua, with an equal number of farmers. In this instance, CIDICCO has provided seed and technical advice to elaborate and fine-tune a validation protocol for the trials.
The other action presently going on with the school is a germplasm environment trial with Mucuna. This experiment materialized from the workshop "Food and Feed from Mucuna: current uses and the way forward" that CIDICCO, along with CIEPCA, and Judson College, organized with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation.
This trial is oriented to determine the correlation, if any, between the concentration of L-dopa in Mucuna seed and the environment where a particular germplasm is cultivated. The trial is simultaneously conducted in Honduras, Benin, Florida, and California.
CIDICCO has continued
its collaboration with Dr. Isidro Matamoros whose animal feeding trials have
shown that, at least for ruminants, Mucuna can be used as a substitute of
soybean flour. Within this context, and after several months of work, CIDICCO
published the magazine "Uso de Leguminosas Tropicales en la Alimentación
animal" (The use of Tropical Legumes in animal feeding). This
publication, which has been well received by field personnel, comprises results
of experiments carried out over a long period of time by Zamorano researchers
and students. The content of the magazine has allowed CIDICCO to expand its
basis of information to the area of animal feeding, which has received minor
attention from extension personnel despite the fact that animals are an integral
part of the small farmers'farming systems everywhere.
Only a reduced number of groups are carrying out agricultural research. Moreover, out that small number, practically none are doing research oriented to serve the needs of small farmers. With that in mind, and thanks to its ten-years of networking actions in Honduras, CIDICCO has obtained the support of two important research and academic organizations to perform applied research that can be extrapolated to the conditions of small farmers.
The first group has been the Honduran Foundation for Research (FHIA). Personnel of CIDICCO began to work in a low-profile manner with one of the agronomists (Ing. Rinaldo Voto) responsible for an organic vegetable production project at FHIA's Santa Catarina Station in La Esperanza, Intibucá. CIDICCO recommended the use of Lathyrus spp. ("choreque") brought into Honduras from Guatemala. This species was another alternative to the limited number of GMCC options available for the high altitude regions (above 1500 meters above sea level). The experiment went so well that during the fourth regional network meeting, the topic of discussion was the use of choreque in the highlands of Honduras and the field trip was facilitated by FHIA. The network members had the opportunity to see the field field where Ing. Voto had planted choreque and asked questions regarding the use of this legume. Presently, the eight-hectare experimental field of the station is under a choreque rotation. The expectation is that during the next two years enough seed will be locally available in order for other farmers and agencies to begin introducing this important species into the maize-potato systems common in the region. In Septemebr of this year, Milton Flores paid a courtesy visit to Dr. Salvador Vitanza, Regional Director of FHIA who expressed his satisfaction for the relation between FHIA and CIDICCO. He is looking forward to continue collaborating in a work that is mutually beneficial.
Also with FHIA, in the Central Valley of Comayagüa, a Pachyrrizus erosus (Jícama) trial was set with seed and technical advise provided by CIDICCO. The purpose of this trial is to observe the agronomic performance of this species, which has a large export market in the US, and the multiplication of seed.
With Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Forestales (National School of Forestry ESNACIFOR) CIDICCO is carrying out an experiment to observe the performance of four GMCC species as a cover for coffee planted under pine. Due to the economic importance of coffee, many people are establishing coffee plantations in areas where pine trees are the natural vegetation.
Recently, it has been demonstrated that it is not necessary to cut all the trees in order to plant a crop. With minor soil amendments, coffee can perform well under a regulated shade of pine. Legumes have been included in order to control unwanted vegetation during the first years of the coffee plantation's establishment. This is a long-term experiment that will be followed up both by CIDICCO and ESNACIFOR
The work in Southern Honduras has continued focussed on the so –called "Siembra en Crudo" – a variation of the Tapado system in Costa Rica – and the re-insertion of Vigna unguiculata into the cropping systems of Southern Honduras, in particular maize and cassava.
In the first case, CIDICCO is in the final stage of filming a documentary video on the use of the Siembra en Crudo System as an example of a sustainable practice based on the management of a natural fallow. The video is expected to be ready by the first semester of 2001. With the support of the Municipal authorities of El Corpus and Concepcion de María, CIDICCO was able to conduct a survey, which indicated that no less than 1,940 hectares were planted to common beans under the siembra en crudo system. The estimated bean production of this area was 33,000 quintals (approximately 680 metric tons.) The system has proven to provide sustained yields over time as well as a considerable protection to the steep hills of the region.
With the purpose of disseminating to a wider audience the findings of our documentation on the siembra en crudo, CIDICCO organized a one day seminar called "Siembra en Crudo: an agricultural tradition to protect the microbasins, produce food, and generate income" in the Municipality of El Corpus, Choluteca. Fifty-seven persons representing 16 organizations working in the region attended the event, which was inaugurated by the major of El Corpus, Mr. Osban Mayorga. Interestingly enough, in a recent workshop to discuss the role of trees in sustainable agriculture, organized by a British research organism called CUBOS in the Southern City of Choluteca, Mr. Mayorga openly expressed that during the seminar held in his municipality (the siembra en crudo seminar) he has learned about the importance of the "mulch" called in Honduran-Spanish "colchón". He encouraged participants (many of them, farmers) to take good care of the mulch.
The Siembra en Crudo seminar was the first time ever that all the agencies working in the municipality gather together. Therefore, in addition to promoting the use of sustainable agricultural systems, CIDICCO is glad to become a facilitator of encounters that will rebound to a larger benefit of entire communities.
Regarding the re-insertion of Vigna into the agricultural systems of Southern Honduras, CIDICCO established with the active participation of Don Alfredo Vallejo, a highly innovative farmer, a simple trial consisting of single and double row intercrop of Vigna with cassava.
Despite the severe drought that hit Choluteca, both the cassava and Vigna resisted well. CIDICCO organized a field day at Don Alfredo's land. He explained the advantages and disadvantages he observed during the trial to an audience of 20 agronomists from 12 organizations of the region. Don Alfredo expressed that he would only accept the single row arrangement as the double-row made him to incur in too much additional labor. What is interesting is that in a recent visit to his land (September 28, 2000) Don Alfredo had already planted a second crop of maize intercropped with Vigna and Dolichos and is recommending other farmers to associate Vigna with cassava.
The COBERAGRI-L Spanish language electronic discussion list, which was initiated by CIDICCO with MOIST assistance, had over 80 subscribers at the beginning of 2000. Traffic increased substantially over the past year and cross-posting with sister French (EVECS-L ) and English (MULCH-L) GMCC lists has improved through collaborative efforts of the TropSCORE Consortium. Both MOIST and CIDICCO have been active in TropSCORE, the Tropical Soil Cover and Soil Cover Resource Exchange, since its founding in March 1999.
We would like to continue playing our role of enhancing the technical capacity of agricultural personnel who work with a large number of NGOs and private extension groups. Within this line of ideas, CIDICCO has established a collaboration agreement with the Menonite Social Action Committee to implement a validation trial of Arachis pintoi as a cover crop for plantain. At least ten farmers will be participating in the trial.
CIDICCO can play a more active advisory role for the establishment and follow up of much needed applied research that can accompany the extension efforts of numerous NGOs and private extension groups that at this moment do not have any.
Brazilian researchers at EMBRAPA Manaus led by Dr. Gladys De Souza have been working with farmer communities to promote cross-site visits among farmers in different communities and between farmers and research stations. The goal of the cross-visits is to facilitate the development of "Farmer field Schools" that have already begun providing local communities with local and easily accessible resources and advice on the agroforestry and mulch-based alternatives being studied in the NASA funded research.