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Zambia
Progress
and Activities
• Esek Farmers'
Cooperative Society Wins 2nd Prize
The first farmer group to use SRI in Zambia and demonstrate its merits (a
dried-grain yield of 6.144 t/ha in the 2005-06 season) entered a display
on SRI in the Northwest Province Agricultural, Commercial, Mining and Industrial
Show organized by the government in August, and received 2nd prize, coming
in behind by an HIV/AIDS program. Henry Ngimbu, the Society's agricultural
advisor, has provided a short PP
presentation (826 kb pdf)) on the display and winning
of the prize, which is helping to further publicize SRI in the region.
•Zambia
is 24th Country Where SRI Effect is Demonstrated
The
Esek Farmers' Cooperative Society hosted on June 30 a National
SRI Launch and First SRI Harvest in Solwezi,
North-western Province of Zambia, with about 300 persons present --
farmers, officials, technicians, NGO workers, teachers -- many
travelling hundreds of kilometers to attend. Mr. Salivaji, the
Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President for Northwestern
Province, traveled 500 km from Kabwe to attend as invited Chief
Guest.
The
SRI demonstration plot -- the first in the country and in Southern
Africa -- was 12.5 x 12.5 meters and yielded 96 kg of dried
paddy. This is a yield of 6.144 t/ha.  (click
on picture at right to enlarge view of the crop). A local
variety, known as Super, was used, with 6-month maturation.
Fifteen-day seedlings were transplanted singly at 25x25 cm
spacing, with weeding done by hand. During the launch ceremony,
a rotary hoe weeder shipped from Madagascar by Glenn Lines
was presented and demonstrated, with technical drawings provided
to facilitate local manufacture. Also a gift of $5,000 to accelerate
the spread of SRI in Zambia, sent by Mr. David Galloway, Vancouver,
Canada, was presented to the Farmers' Cooperative Society and
its chief technical advisor Henry Ngimbu. Mr. Ngimbu has sent
a preliminary report in powerpoint describing methods and results.
Presently, food insecurity is very great in Northwest Province,
and the World Food Programme and other agencies from time to
time are importing rice from Asia to help feed the hungry population. Local rice
yields are usually around 1 t/ha given the poor soils and the
lack of irrigation facilities in the region. This SRI crop relied
primarily upon rainfall, although members of the farmers' society
constructed a small catchment dam to provide some supplementary
irrigation at low cost. No fertilizers were applied, only organic
matter to enhance the soil. A 6 t/ha yield that is not dependent
upon purchased external inputs opens new possibilities for reducing
hunger and poverty in the province, the country and the region.
Presentations
and Reports
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Tefy
Saina