Kersa Llala, Ethiopia Report; December 02, 2008
Successes:
- Alfalfa 2nd harvest completed on Nov. 19 & 20. Magnum variety displaying 6-8” of re-growth, Cisco variety and the Ethiopian variety have about 3-4” of growth. Abera’s conclusion is that the order of best performance so far is Magnum, Ethiopian and then the Cisco variety. Final results will be determined after the crop goes through the dry season. The grass varieties have all been harvested once and grazed once. The Orchard grass seems to be the best performer.
- Safflower looks good where the soil is good, poor in the bad soil…just as expected. Two of the four varieties are noticeably better than the other two.
- The Wheat is beginning to form heads and is expected to be mature enough for harvest by January 10-15th. The wheat planted in rows is more mature than the wheat sown using the broadcasting method. Both look good. Due to the extra rain received this dry season, it would have been better to plant at a heavier seeding rate….but I planned for the driest scenario.
- The Chick Peas (Shumbura) is flowering and is expected to be ready for harvest around January 10th. This crop is very suitable to be grown in a dry farm in this area.
The barley looks good where the soil condition is good…..some of it looks very good.
- An above-ground silage box has been constructed and filled with alfalfa from the 2nd harvest. The hay that did not fit in the box is being dried, bundled and stored for later feeding.
- The FTC 10,000 gallon garden has a good start. There are 16 rows each of tomato and carrots planted. Beet root is scheduled for transplanting into the garden on Thursday.
- The 5×5 meter 10 gallon gardens look good. There are two rows each of beet roots, carrots, onions, cabbages, squashes and tomatoes. The garden size will be just right for most people but could be larger for the ambitious ones.
- Abera is preparing soil to begin filling small round plastic planting containers for the tree nursery.
- The livestock holding barn looks good, though it looks more of an Ethiopian style building. A cement water trough has been made and placed out in front of the barn. Abera has requested a water storage tank for the livestock to eliminate daily water hauling.
Summary:
Things generally look good here. The locals are starting to believe in the dry farm method, but there is still some doubt that the crops will make it to maturity. It has been two weeks without rain. My recommendation is to proceed with the existing plans through harvest. Final results will be used to perfect the next year’s crop. For next year’s crop I will recommend fertilizer to be applied to any planned dry-farm acreage in early September to allow the rain to activate it into the soil.
Irrigation report to follow.