AAPI Bulletin Vol 13 March 2012 (English)

AAPI NEWS BULLETIN Accelerating Agriculture Productivity Improvement (AAPI) Volume 13

A project supported by USAID in collaboration with DAE Notes from Chief of Party, AAPI

Inside this issue:

Promoting Guti Urea: Gouripur Sets an Example

2

The Family Approach in Farming Vegetables

3

Multiple Incomes: Tale of a Family

6

Activity Achievements in March 2012

8

AAPI Events in April 2012

8

AAPI News Bulletin is a monthly publication of the AAPI project.

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IFDC is a Public International Organization (PIO) based in Alabama, USA. IFDC focuses on increasing and sustaining food security and agricultural productivity in developing countries.

Managing Editor: Ishrat Jahan Resident Representative IFDC Bangladesh Eurasia Division and Project Coordinator, AAPI Design and Layout: Syed Afzal Hossain Data Management Unit, AAPI

March is the month when we see the transplantation for Boro completed and the seed beds established for Aus. Those areas that were quiet during Boro start to stir for Aus. We began to prepare our Aus workplan in February and held a general staff meeting in Dhaka March 19-20. It was the first time that all the AAPI staff were in the same room at the same time since scale-up. We had 160 staff attending – field monitoring officers, field coordinators, senior staff, data management, administration and finance. We have set a very full program of work aiming to achieve 167,000 hectares (ha) of urea deep placement (UDP) coverage in the Aus crop across the AAPI districts.

The block surveys for Boro will start in early April and they will report the results of UDP coverage. Our preliminary estimates show that we have achieved our UDP target of 588,000 ha during Boro.

In this issue, one of our training specialists, Dr. Mozammel Haque, has provided an example of how the Gouripur Upazila Parishad of Mymensingh has taken the initiative to purchase and distribute applicators to promote the adoption of UDP technology. Our agriculture specialist, Dr. Shaharuk Ahmed, has described how our family approach with

March 31, 2012

vegetable farmers is delivering results.

There is also an article about the family business of one of our entrepreneurs in Terokhada, Khulna.

This month we benefited from the input of two short-term consultants from IFDC headquarters – Ms. Olivia Gist, geographic information system (GIS) specialist, and Dr. Upendra Singh, principal scientist – systems modeling (soil fertility).

Olivia worked with our data management team to install our mapping system and she trained staff in the collection of geographic data using a global positioning system (GPS). This allows us to map our project activities and manage the rollout of our technologies in new locations.

Upendra worked with our soil scientists and agriculture specialists to review and revise our on-farm trials and broaden the research collaboration with Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) for Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potash (NPK) from Guti research in rice and vegetables. He reviewed our zinc-core fertilizer research and liaised with International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) as we proceed to measure zinc content in rice crops fertilized with various zinc fertilizer products.

The views expressed in this bulletin do not necessarily reflect views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government

Volume 13

AAPI NEWS BULLETIN AAPI News Bulletin Contact Persons: Ishrat Jahan Grahame D. Hunter Address: Dhaka Office: Road No. 62, House No. 4B, Apt-B2 Gulshan - 2, Dhaka -1212 Bangladesh Tel: 880-2-9894288 880-2-8817391 Fax: 880-2-8826109 Website: www.ifdc.org Barisal Office: “Zohora” 834 (New) Police Line Road, Barisal Tel: 0431-2176566 Jessore Office: 1351 Police Line Road Talikhola, Puraton Kasba Jessore Tel: 0421-60986 AAPI Management: Ishrat Jahan, Project Coordinator; Grahame D. Hunter, Chief of Party; Md. Mofizul Islam, Sr. Agriculture Specialist; Dr. Shaharuk Ahmed, Md. Fozlul Hoque, Md. Iqbal Hossain, Dr. AKM Farhad, Agriculture Specialists; Md. Mozammel Haque, Abul Hossain Mollah, Mahmood Hussain, Training Specialists; Dr. Md. Abdul Mazid Mia, Mainul Ahsan, Soil Scientists; Md. Nurul Islam, Market/Business Development Specialist; Ram Proshad Ghosh, Mechanical Engineer; Dr. Abdul Wohab, Agriculture Engineer; Rubina Islam, Gender Specialist; Syed Afzal Mahmood Hossain, Senior Data Management Specialist; Farin Islam, M&E Specialist; AFM Saleh Chowdhury, Chief Accountant; Bishnu Rup Chowdhury, Administrative and Procurement Officer

Upendra also facilitated the collaboration between AAPI and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) for conservation agriculture research in our model villages. All these initiatives will expand the acceptance and adoption of UDP technology.

A large part of Upendra’s input involved assisting us with the start of our Climate Change Integration Pilot Award that will measure greenhouse gas emissions from rice fields fertilized using UDP. Upendra and our soil scientists, Dr. Mazid Miah and Mr. Mainul Ahsan, have laid the groundwork to get the research started within the institutions of Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU) and BRRI.

Khan Pathan Silvi distributed 11 Guti applicators to smallholder farmers from the upazila fund.

The farmers received the applicators at a stakeholder workshop held at Gouripur upazila on December 21, 2011. The farmers were selected through a participatory process involving union parishad chairmen, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and local dignitaries. The upazila agriculture office of Gouripur coordinated the workshop.

Climate Change Integration Pilot Award to AAPI In February, USAID granted a Climate Change Integration Pilot Award to AAPI that will fund research to quantify N losses and build capacity in two institutions in Bangladesh – BRRI and BAU. The project will be implemented in two phases. Phase I will quantify the N losses and build capacity within the institutions of BRRI and BAU. Phase II will measure the effect of enhanced technologies on N emissions and yield. *** Promoting Guti Urea: Gouripur Sets an Example Gouripur upazila parishad of Mymensingh has set an example, indeed. In an unprecedented move, the upazila chairman Ali Ahmed 2

Gouripur upazila chairman Ali Ahmed Khan Pathan Silvi (center) at the applicator distribution ceremony.

Pathan Silvi’s initiative is aimed at making up the shortage of farm laborers during rice transplantation and helping the farmers easily apply Guti urea on at least two acres of land per day. Fast placement of Guti urea facilitates quick adoption of the technology. The smallholder farmers can also enhance their incomes by applying Guti urea to other farmers’ rented fields.

The Gouripur upazila chairman’s magnanimous move is very much in line with the objectives of AAPI, which maintains a collaborative relationship with local government bodies. This encourages ownership of not only Guti urea deep placement technology but also its sustainability.

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Volume 13 This pioneering initiative of Gouripur upazila parishad is an example for others to follow. Its achievement will certainly encourage other upazila parishads of the country to allocate funds for the promotion of Guti technology. This locallevel initiative demonstrates the opportunity for NGOs and community-based organizations to initiate applicator-based income generation activities for smallholder farmers in this area.

AAPI believes that local government entities, with the assistance of the ministries, play a critical role in nationwide expansion and sustainability of new technologies. The upazila parishad receives government funds designated for rural development and is allowed to allocate the funds to other development sectors. The chairmen of the union parishad also play an important role in prioritizing local needs and allocating funds.

*** Gouripur has huge potential for agriculture.

Though rice is the main crop, many farmers also grow vegetables. Considering the importance of agriculture for the people, AAPI officials had an in-depth discussion with the upazila chairman and other officials about Guti technology and sought their cooperation in its promotion. The upazila chairman’s distribution of applicators followed the discussion.

The Family Approach in Farming Vegetables As new farming methods evolve, farmers are required to have more knowledge of technologies that will increase productivity. However, mere advice to the individual about specific technologies does not seem to be a pragmatic way of knowledge transfer. Rather, the proven technologies should be easily explained to the farmers along with field demonstrations and trials.

In the process, AAPI is finding that involving the whole farm family proves more effective.

Moreover, family cohesiveness is considered crucial for today’s household food security.

At the Guti applicator distribution ceremony, Pathan Silvi highlighted the importance of Guti urea in ensuring food security. He pointed out that farmers in Gouripur upazila made a net benefit of nearly Tk 8 crore by using Guti urea during the last Boro season. Ali Ahmed Khan said distributing Guti applicators to the smallholder farmers was aimed at increasing their yields, thus increasing their incomes.

Considering these facts, AAPI started training farmer couples on the use of Guti urea in vegetable cultivation. AAPI believes capacity building and understanding of a technology by the family members in their own context is crucial.

During the 2012 Boro season, AAPI applied this approach to orient the farmer couples about their role, potential and scope to work jointly in their own fields.

Ten union parishad chairmen were present at the ceremony. They expressed their satisfaction over distribution of the applicators and assured the participants of more applicators in the future after evaluating their performance.

Objectives

AAPI’s main partner in promotion of Guti urea is the DAE. It requested the applicators for the farmers during the initial stage of the APPI project. The upazila agriculture office played a prominent role in arranging for these applicators to be delivered at the right time. AAPI followed up with a short training for the applicator users where experts demonstrated operational techniques for the participants who received the Guti applicators. During the training, the farmers identified the mistakes generally made while operating the applicators.

 Create awareness among the selected farmer couples and provide them with information on improved vegetable production with Guti urea technology.  Facilitate adoption of Guti urea, encouraging joint decision-making in farm families and elevate vegetable production beyond subsistence farming.

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Table : Orientation Program Organized by AAPI Sl. 1.

2.

3.

Total

Venue (Districts)

No. of Upazilas

Barisal (Barisal, Bhola, Jhalokathi, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Gopalgonj, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Faridpur and Rajbari) (12) Jessore (Jessore, Narail, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Khulna, Jhenaidah, Magura, Chuadanga and Meherpur) (9) Mymensingh (Mymensingh and Sherpur) (2) 23

Participants

24

Male (individual) 2

23

5

29

63

6

3

13

29

53

10

65x2 = 130

140

Couple

Total

23

48

applied Guti urea on 5 decimals and prilled urea on the other 5 decimals. They planted Delta Hybrid variety. They have already made seven pickings and harvested 1,093 kilograms (kg) (54.67 tons/ha) of tomato from the Guti plot and 934 kg (46.70 tons/ha) from the prilled urea plot. The yield difference between the two plots is 159 kg (7.95 tons/ha). As of March 6, the couple earned Tk 40,540 from 10 decimals of land and was expecting two to three more pickings.

In November, AAPI oriented and trained 65 couples and 10 individual male farmers on the production of tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal (eggplant), banana and potato. The trainers discussed in detail their role as demonstration and trial farmers and crop management and Guti technology, both in theory and practice.

Women and men farmers participating in the AAPI orientation program.

These trained farmers, meanwhile, planted their crops and have begun harvesting. Results are showing better productivity when UDP is practiced. Here we focus on the cases of a few farmers.

Dipalee and her husband cleaning their fields.

Sharing their experiences on the demonstration, the couple said this is the first time that they have received training together, which, according to them, is a new and interesting experience. They said:

Case – 1 Dipalee Kithnia, wife of Tusher Kithnia of Ragunathpur in Gopalganj, established a tomato demonstration on 10 decimals of land. They 4

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Volume 13  Encouraged by their achievement, many vegetable farmers in their village got interested in Guti urea technology.

 The Guti urea-applied plot gave higher yield with good quality.  The joint training has led them to make decisions together to follow the UDP technology that they learned.  Sequential earning helped immediate family needs.

them

 They could sell vegetables easily and at higher prices because of better color, quality and larger size as a result of using Guti urea.

solve

Rangito Begum’s cauliflower demo plot.

Case – 3 Dipalee’s tomato demonstration plot.

Bilkis Begum, wife of Amir Hossain at Char Palong in Shariatpur Sadar, conducted NPK trials with cauliflower (White Sun variety). It was tried on four plots each of 100 square meters with four treatments – NPK Guti, Guti urea, recommended doses of prilled urea and farmers practice. After six pickings, they got 570 kg from the NPKtreated plot, 555 kg from the Guti-treated plot, 540 kg from the recommended dose plot and 510 kg from the farmers’ practice plot. Thus, the yield difference between the NPK plot and farmers’ practice plot was 60 kg (6 tonnes a hectare), 45 kg (4.5 tons/ha) in the Guti-applied plot and farmers practice plot. The difference was 30 kg (3.0 tons/ ha) in the Guti-applied plot and recommended dose plot. In total they got 2,175 kg from 400 square meters of trial plots and earned Tk 39,150 (sales price Tk. 18.00/kg).

Case – 2 Rangito Begum, wife of Akbar Ali of village Gozaria at Kachua in Bagerhat, established a cauliflower UDP demonstration and cultivated a white Kontesa (hybrid) variety. They planted 460 seedlings in each 5-decimal plot. Though eight plants died during the vegetative stage, they harvested 456 cauliflowers in each plot. The average weight of cauliflower in the Guti urea applied plot was 1.66 kg/curd, while it was 1.00 kg/curd in the prilled urea plot. The yield difference between the two plots was 300.96 kg (756.96 – 456), which is about 37 tons/ha. They sold each cauliflower at Tk 10.50/kg locally and earned about Tk 12,740 from 10 decimals of demonstration plots. Sharing their experiences, the couple said:

Couples perception:

 Additional earning helped them lease one bigha of land.

 The NPK-applied plot gave the highest yield (per curd average weight in NPK-applied plot was 1,900 gm compared to Guti-applied plot’s 1,850 gm/curd, recommended urea plot’s 1,800 gm/curd and farmers’ practice plots was only 1,700 gm/curd).

 Involvement of both the wife and husband also inspired their young son and daughter who helped place Guti urea.

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 Joint training of husband and wife helped them establish trial plot per AAPI guidelines.

were larger size and more vibrant color in the Guti-applied plot.

 When the husband went to work as a day laborer to maintain their daily family needs, the wife managed the vegetable trial plot. The lessons she learned from the training and orientation helped her work in the trial plot.

 The fertilizer cost in the Guti urea-plot is about half that of prilled urea plot.  Peeling large-size potatoes is easier and requires less time.

 The NPK Guti and Guti urea plots gave quality products with higher yields.

Sheema Rani Das and others harvesting potatoes from UDP plots.

NPK cauliflower trial plot of Bilkis Begum.

Case – 4 Sheema Rani Das, wife of Shyamol Chandra Das of Dyarpar in Tozomuddin, established a potato demonstration plot on 10 decimals (5 + 5) of land with a Cardinal variety. Fertilizer was applied in line with the Guti technology guideline of using 350 kg of Guti urea per hectare, while on the other plot she used the recommended 750 kg prilled urea per hectare. Almost similar tuber yield (about 31 ton/ha) was recorded from both the plots.

However, the size of potato tuber was larger in the Guti urea plot than that of the prilled urea plot (Last picture). They harvested potatoes in late February in the presence of the AAPI Chief of Party, the AAPI farming system specialist, agriculture officials of the DAE and many male and female farmers.

Sheema Rani Das and others harvesting potatoes from UDP plots.

*** Multiple Incomes: Tale of a Family

Couple’s response:

A machine has changed Shahidur Rahman’s family. Shahidur, age 50, is a traditional farmer who owns a moderate amount of land in a remote village in Terokhada, Khulna.

 The average yield of potato in this area is about 18-20 ton/ha. This is the first time they got more than 30 tons/ha of potatoes. They 6

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Volume 13 tons,” said Rajib. The shop made a net profit of Tk 1,366 (US $16.70) per day from sales of Guti urea.

Considering the 255 mt of Guti urea that he produced, the family made a total net profit of Tk 174,165 (US $2,130) during the Boro season.

Shahidur and his family also own an agro-dealer shop at Nebudia Bazaar and sell fertilizers and crop protection products (CPPs), but they have recently added a briquetting machine that is producing “wonder briquettes” and provides an additional source of income.

“This is a tremendous job for a Guti entrepreneur who has done it for the first time,” said AAPI Field Monitoring Officer (FMO) Shariful Islam.

“And even more interesting is that they could sell the whole amount of Guti they produced.”

“We are a busy family now and this yields good results. We have sales transactions everyday and we are making a good profit,” said Shahidur’s son, Munshi Abdul Aziz Rajib, age 24. Rajib completed his four-year diploma in agriculture technology from Agriculture Training Institute in Khulna. He also did his internship under the upazila agriculture officer in Terokhada, and many of the farmers and sub-assistant agriculture officers of the upazila personally know him.

Things have changed quite rapidly but smoothly due to the family’s strong network in the community, hard work by all the family members and an attitude to change their fate. Shahidur’s wife, Rani Begum, says they are a happier family now than before. “Our lives improved after we started producing and selling Guti urea,” says Rani, with her husband nodding agreement.

Shahidur Rahman and his son with the briquette machine

A New Beginning It was October last year when Shahidur got an offer from the upazila agriculture office and the AAPI project to receive training about Guti urea technology. He was glad to receive the training because he wanted to start an agro-input shop. A few days later, another offer surprised him when he found out he could buy a Guti briquetting machine at a subsidized rate of Tk 38,000 (US $465) from AAPI. He definitely wanted the opportunity.

How was it possible?

“As farmers came to my shop, I advised them to use Guti urea,” he said. “I told them I myself used Guti on my 250 decimals of land,” Shahidur said.

AAPI FMO Islam said that before the Boro season, the project provided theoretical and practical training to 480 model farmers in Terokhada in 12 batches. Other farmers were interested in it as the model farmers told them about the benefits.

When AAPI officials set up the machine in November and demonstrated how to operate it, Shahidur, Rani and Rajib were there to learn together. The first day they bought 50 kilograms (kg) of urea to turn into Guti urea.

“We also asked the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation dealers to buy Guti urea from Shahidur’s shop,” Islam said. Some dealers bought Guti urea, while others wanted Shahidur to make Guti urea using their prilled urea. They paid Tk 1 per kg as a manufacturing charge.

Considering this, the average sales price was set at Tk 22 per kg.

“Full-scale production started November 15 and we manufactured one to three tons of Guti urea per day. Thus the total production of Guti urea up to the first week of March this Boro season was 255 7

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Volume 13 planted Boro on 6,670 hectares in the upazila. Of it, 1,650 came under Guti coverage. “As demand for Guti is increasing, we are planning for more Guti machines,” Malakar said.

Islam said they publicized Guti urea technology through Bazaar miking. After they began producing Guti, Rajib did the same to publicize it and to describe how less Guti urea yields more plus explain the techniques of deep-placing briquettes. The advertising led to more sales of Guti briquettes, Rajib said.

*** AAPI Events in April 2012

Shahidur sells other fertilizers and CPPs at his shop. Rajib says an average sale at the shop is Tk 15,000 (US $183). Out of it, the profit would be around 10 percent, which means Tk 1,500 (US $18.34) per day.

In the month of April 2012, AAPI is concentrating its activities for Boro and Aus paddy. In this month, the following activities will be carried out.  Start block survey for Boro

While the family expects to get a good Boro harvest from 250 decimals of land in two months, profits are flowing in from the business.

 Start crop cuts of Boro paddy

“Farmers who used Guti urea are also happy and surprised. They ask if we added any vitamin while manufacturing Guti urea that helps plants grow so well. I say ‘no.’ The mystery is in placing Guti beneath the soil,” says Rani. “Urea is not wasted in this process.”

 7 batches of extension staff training

 363 batches of training for Aus farmers 

8 workshop with stakeholders

 13 motivational field trips  2 batches of briquette producers training  6 batches of orientation training program  110 batches of motivational meeting with old farmers

According to Terokhada Upazila Agriculture Officer Shudhendu Shekhar Malakar, farmers

 4 open sky shows

Activity Achievements in March 2012 In March 2012, AAPI successfully completed activities as shown in the following table.

Indicator

Unit

Boro Target

Achievement in March 2012

Achievement of Boro Total to date

% of Target

UDP coverage for Boro

ha

588,026

77,897

610,805

104%

Extension staff training

Batches

65

55

85%

Farmer Training

Batches

3,480

19

3,511

101%

Rice field demonstrations

No.

393

2

451

116%

Other crop demonstrations

No.

54

2

68

123%

Rice Trials

No.

36

36

100%

Other crop trials

No.

Motivational field trips

No.

41

4

19

46%

Stakeholder workshops

No.

40

16

33

83%

Sale of briquette machines

No.

289

24

328

113%

Briquette producer training

Batches

20

5

19

95%

15

8