End of summer

Yesterday I was walking through the fields enjoying the sunshine, watching the farmer finishing the harvest.

This field had a machine throwing out rectangular bales but I noticed the field next door had round bales.  I don't know if there are any reasons for choosing round over rectangular bales other than the available machinery, or maybe the whim of the moment.

The hedges were filled with berries, not all ripe just yet but plenty of them.  It seems to have been a good year in spite of the poor start to the summer.

Blackberries

Hawthorn

Rose hips

All these make me want to go foraging and make the berries into jams and jellies.  I won't of course, but it's a nice thought.

Many of the hedges are covered in Old man's Beard, or Clematis vitalba.

It climbs and twists around bushes and trees rather like a cultivated clematis but it can be invasive.  It's more common in the south of England and on chalky soils.  It's also known as Traveller's Joy because a herbalist in the 16th century thought it decorated and adorned the hedgerows all through the winter.   Personally I think it looks very nice shining in the sun at this time of year but it can look very scraggy by the end of a wet winter.  It's officially considered a pest in New Zealand but you can actually buy plants in the UK.

Teasels.  They can grow to 2 metres or 6 feet.  One variety used to be used to "tease" cloth, or raise a nap on fabrics, in the textile industry.  They were replaced by metal cards but some say the natural teasels did a better job.  Teasel plants can be invasive and are considered so in the USA and, it has to be said, my father would have agreed.  He was given some seeds by someone saying they attract butterflies and birds.  They do, but they spread their seed with happy abandon.

All that was yesterday.  Today we have had almost everything weather-wise, including thunder and lightning, but every cloud has a silver lining.  Or a rainbow.

Conservation farming

The aim of conservation farming is to increase profitability in a way that leads to sustainable development. Conventional farming methods in Africa have left soil depleted with lower yields, and at the same time it is feared that climate change is going to reduce food production still further.

To achieve this they advocate

• using hand operated jab-planters rather like tall dibbers, or Magoye Ripper, a plough which creates a very narrow furrow, or digging a basin round plants to collect rainwater.
• careful timing of planting after the first rains and not immediately they start.
• ground cover to preserve moisture and mulch to enrich the soil and discourage weeds, rather than burning off.
• rotation of crops and inter-planting to increase soil fertility and discourage pests.

There is further information in two IRIN reports:

AFRICA: Food production to halve by 2020
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Cutting edge farming methods boost production

Rice of hope

In Côte d'Ivoire a new variety of rice has been called dususuma malo, or the rice of hope.

This rice, or rather, several different varieties, have been created by the African Rice Centre by crossing Asian rice with African rice. As a group, they are called NERICA, New Rice for Africa. They have several advantages over the previous varieties:

• yields are high
• they mature early
• they are not easily overwhelmed by weeds
• they can tolerate a certain amount of drought
• they are resistant to or tolerate many African pests or dieases
• they can tolerate some soil acidity and iron toxicity
• they have a higher protein content

Apart from the obvious benefit of providing better food supplies, a secondary but no less important benefit is that school attendance has increased in areas where it is grown. This is attributed partly to the income generated by the higher yields and partly to the reduced need for children's labour on the farm because of the shorter time to maturity and the resistance to weeds.

Source Africa Rice Centre

Malawi's maize

I mentioned a while ago that the maize harvest in Malawi was going to be a record this year, on top of a record last year.

While this was good news, I did read elsewhere the question being asked of why they were still receiving aid from the US. It might seem that it’s a good idea – the money could be given to people living in such poverty they cannot afford to buy maize, even at the presumably low prices a record harvest would produce.

Regrettably, according to an article in The Observer, the aid money has to be spent buying American grain which is to be shipped to Malawi. So Malawi farmers cannot sell their produce and the price has dropped drastically, and no doubt the shipping of the grain from the States is adding to global warming. The farmers in the meantime have been struggling themselves and have been put off buying seed from the following year, and they don’t have the money for it anyway.

Then the ban on selling grain outside Malawi was lifted so that farmers could sell the excess to Zimbabwe. Again, a good idea that would support the price of maize and help Zimbabwe’s urgent need. According to The Daily Times in Malawi though, there has been little policing of the amount of maize exported which is necessary to ensure sufficient stocks are left in Malawi for the country’s own needs.

What is required, according to Mary Khozombah who works for Oxfam in Malawi, is empowerment of local farmers.

People who want to help Malawi need to support agriculture by educating farmers, improving irrigation, helping people find other forms of income. We need empowerment so our farmers can export. Ask us! We might come up with good ideas.

Food aid should be the last resort, in an emergency - and even then it should be bought locally if possible.

Some better news from Malawi

Two reports from IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks - part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and both have better news for Malawi

The first tells of a record maize harvest this year, which appears to be the result of the government subsidising the price of fertilizer by about 75%. This subsidy helps enormously except of course for the very poorest subsistence farmers. There are calls to provide fee fertilizer for this group, who often are looking after orphans as well as their own families. And no matter what the subsidy, lack of rain has caused a failing harvest in the Karonga district. There they need irrigation equipment.

The second report is about progress of fish farming in the southern countries of Africa which could be a good source of income and food. However most initiatives are hampered by lack of funds, skills and equipment. According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, nearly half the fish eaten worldwide is farmed. As stocks of wild fish decline, there will be greater and greater demand for farmed fish.