AAPI Bulletin Vol 9 November 2011 (English)

AAPI NEWS BULLETIN Accelerating Agriculture Productivity Improvement (AAPI) Volume 9

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

Inside this issue:

AAPI Scale Up

2

Guti Urea Use in Winter Vegetables

3

Selina the Beacon

5

Message to Boro Farmers

8

AAPI Events in December 9 2011

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

Subscriptions are free.

In this edition, we have outlined our scale-up plan in response to USAID’s emphasis on the Feed the Future Initiative. I am pleased to say that we are already close to full capacity for scale-up. A round of staff meetings in Barisal, Jessore and Mymensingh this month has given Project Coordinator Ishrat Jahan and me a high degree of confidence that we can deliver what are ambitious targets. I salute all staff for the mighty effort they are making.

This month we have messages prepared by our Agriculture Specialist, Dr. Shaharuk Ahmed, and our Farming Systems Specialist, Dr. Badirul Islam, for Boro rice farmers and vegetable farmers growing cabbage, cauliflower and tomato.

November 30, 2011

This is our first promotion of UDP technology in these vegetables. I am delighted to report that potato farmers in Tajumoddin upazila in Bhola district have approached an AAPI Field Monitoring Officer asking for assistance with UDP technology in potato crops. Badirul is preparing a field demonstration to establish with them. Also in this edition, we have the story of Selina, one of our role model entrepreneurs.

During the month, we had a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Team run a three-day survey in Bakshi village under Sheik Matia union in Nazipur upazila of Pirojpur district. This serves as our baseline as we adopt the village as a model for improving farming systems, applying our three lines of technology, viz.

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

USAID Delegation Visiting AAPI Sites

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

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 AAPI Management: Ishrat Jahan, Project Coordinator; Grahame D. Hunter, Chief of Party; Md. Mofizul Islam, Sr. Agriculture Specialist; Dr. Shaharuk Ahmed Agriculture Specialist; Md. Mozammel Haque, Training Specialist; Mahmood Hussain, Training Specialist; Abul Hossain Mollah, Training Specialist, Dr. Md. Abdul Mazid Mia, Soil Scientist; Mainul Ahsan, Soil Scientist; Md. Nurul Islam, Market/Business Development Specialist; Ram Proshad Ghosh, Mechanical Engineer; Rubina Islam, Gender Specialist; Syed Afzal Mahmood Hossain, Senior Data Management Specialist; AFM Saleh Chowdhury, Chief Accountant; Bishnu Rup Chowdhury, Administrative and Procurement Officer

Volume 9 fertilizer deep placement, good seed and alternate wetting and drying, using a “whole of village” approach.

We were advantaged to have Mahmuda Rahman Khan, USAID Senior Program Development Specialist, Gender and Donor Coordination Program office, as a member of the PRA team.

On October 23, 2011, we were privileged to welcome a USAID delegation from Washington, D.C., USA. The delegation included Dina Esposito, Director of USAID’s Food for Peace program; Paul Novick, Senior Food for Peace Officer; Amy Sink, Acting Team Leader, Bureau of Food Security; and Ananta HansCook, Desk Officer, Asia Bureau.

The USAID Bangladesh office was represented by Richard Greene, Mission Director; Ramona El Hamzaoui, Director of the Economic Growth (EG) office; David Yanggen, Deputy Director of EG; and Aniruddha Hom Roy, AAPI Agreement Officer’s Technical Representative.

Another very welcome visitor this month was John H. Allgood, Director of the Eurasia Division, from IFDC’s headquarters in the U.S. They visited Rakudia village under Dehergati union in Babugonj upazila of Barisal district, where they inspected the Aman crop under UDP and met with about 50 farmers (men and women) to discuss their experiences using UDP technology. This was followed by a visit to the shop of Selina Begum to hear her story and where she proudly demonstrated the operation of her urea briquette machine and explained the workings of her enterprise. *** AAPI Scale Up Our donor, USAID, is placing emphasis on the U.S government global hunger and food security 2

initiative known as Feed the Future (FTF). An FTF objective in Bangladesh is “Availability, Access and Use of Domestically Produced and Nutritious Foods Increased.” The USAID Mission in Dhaka has identified the South and the Southwest as regions where it will focus its FTF activities. This is consistent with the Government of Bangladesh’s focus on reviving agricultural production in the South.

Intensification of rice production, diversification of agricultural production, building the capacity of farmers and small enterprises to create market linkages, building research capacity and strengthening extension services are part of the FTF program and consistent with AAPI design. In conformity with the FTF program, AAPI is engaged in:  Increasing on-farm productivity, especially of rice crops.  Increasing investment in market systems.  Enhancing food security.  Enhancing agriculture innovation capacity.

This makes AAPI a key partner in the FTF Initiative in Bangladesh and in response to a call to scale-up its activities, an operational plan has been approved that will deliver over 1.2 million hectares of rice land under UDP technology by March 2013.

The AAPI project has made significant progress in the first year of implementation with more than 829,000 farmers having directly benefited by adopting fertilizer deep placement (FDP) technology, resulting in an increase of 20 percent (on average) in rice yields with onethird less use of high-cost nitrogen fertilizer. Micro-enterprise scale entrepreneurs (dealers) have invested

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Volume 9 Monitoring Officers have been appointed (plus some additional field coordinators and senior staff) to support the field work.

their own funds on a cost/share basis to procure more than 255 fertilizer briquette machines to meet farmer demand for Guti urea. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) are fully supportive of FDP technology diffusion and DAE staff members are fully engaged in the target areas in providing farmer education on FDP technology. The momentum established in the first year of AAPI suggests that significant progress can be made in extending the diffusion of FDP technology to other key agriculture areas in Bangladesh with similar benefits to accrue to farmers that adopt the technology.

The project will operate in 124 upazilas of 22 districts. One hundred and seven, or 86 percent, of the upazilas are from the USAID FTF districts.

In addition, the Scale-Up Plan identifies specific activities to be performed with other USAIDfunded projects, such as Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises (PRICE). *** Guti Urea Use in Winter Vegetables Accelerating rice productivity by using Guti urea is nothing new in Bangladesh. But, recently its use in vegetables and fruits has been successful too.

This is an effective, sustainable, urea-saving and environmentally friendly technology. The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) applied Guti urea at rates that were 10-20 percent less than that of prilled urea in vegetables, fruits and other crops, but the yield increased by 5 -15 percent. Farmers in many areas covered by AAPI are already using Guti urea and harvesting better yields. Those interested can also use this technology in some winter vegetables.

Cabbage Plow and level the field at the appropriate time. During the last tilling, mix the recommended amounts of compost, TSP, gypsum, boron, zinc sulfate and half of the total required MOP with the soil. Remember, in the Guti urea in Cabbage southern districts of the country it is not necessary to apply boron in cabbage, cauliflower and tomato cultivation.

The Scale-Up Plan will target 107 upazilas in all 20 of the FTF districts in south and southwest Bangladesh in conformity with the USAID FTF strategy and maintain regular intervention in the Mymensingh region. AAPI will continue to address demand- and supply-related factors concurrently to achieve rapid demand growth and supply efficiency to service demand. All existing activities will be scaled up, a new office will open in Jessore and 55 new Field

Appropriate period for planting: September to November Cabbage Varieties: Early Varieties: Express-Cross, K-Y Cross, K-K Cros, Green Express-Cross Medium Varieties: K-Y Cross, K-K Cross, Green 3

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Express-Cross, Express-Cross, Atlas 70 Late Varieties: Atlas 70, K-K Cross, K-Y Cross

recommended amounts of fertilizers, except for Guti urea, must be mixed in with the soil. Half of the recommended MOP should be applied during tilling.

Amounts of fertilizers (except for urea) to be applied: Fertilizers TSP MoP Gypsum Boric Acid Compost

Amounts Kg/Hectares 250 250 100 6 5,000

Appropriate period for planting: August to October

Grams/Decimals

Cauliflower Varieties: 1,000 1,000 400 25 20 kg

Advanced Varieties: Kartika, Patnai, Pusha Dipali, White Sot, Early Snowball, Tropical-55, Tropical-45

How to Apply Guti Urea?  Prepare beds of 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) height and one meter (40 inches) width after applying the above-mentioned fertilizers.  Maintain a gap of 45 cm (18 inches) from one seedling to another, and 60 cm (24 inches) gap from one row to another. However, the gaps could be different depending on varieties, soil fertility and quality of nutrients.

Medium Varieties:

Ogrohayoni, Poushali, Snowball X, White Contesa, Snowball-16 and Snow Crown

Late Varieties:

White Mountain, Unique Snowball, Maghi Benarasi, King of Kashmir, White Contesa

Amounts of fertilizers (except for urea) to be applied:

 In one hectare of land, 430 kg of Guti urea is required. Accordingly, seven briquettes of Guti weighing 1.8 grams each must be placed around one seedling.

Fertilizers TSP MoP Gypsum Zinc Sulphate Boric Acid Compost

 Place Guti urea 12-15 days after planting the cabbage seedlings. The Guti should be placed 5-8 cm (2-3 inches) beneath the soil surrounding the seedling and 10-12 cm (4-5 inches) away from the seedling. The Guti should be covered after placement.

Amounts KG/ Hectares 100 200 125 5 12 5,000

Grams/ Decimals 400 800 500 20 50 20 kg

How to Apply Guti Urea?

 Irrigation would be required while applying Guti urea if the soil is dry. At the same time, the rest of the MOP should be applied in the cabbage field.

 Prepare beds of 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) height and one meter (40 inches) width after applying the above-mentioned fertilizers.

Cauliflower

 Maintain a gap of 45 cm (18 inches) from one seedling to another, and 60 cm (24 inches) gap from one row to another. However, the gaps could be different depending on varieties, soil fertility and quality of nutrients.

As in the case of cabbage, the land should be plowed and leveled at the appropriate time.

During the last tilling,

 In one hectare of land, 330 kg of Guti urea is required. Accordingly, five briquettes of Guti weighing 1.8 grams each must be placed around one seedling.

 Do not loosen the soil of the cabbage field after applying Guti urea.

Guti urea in Cauliflower

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 Place Guti urea 12-15 days after planting the cabbage seedlings. The Guti should be placed 5-8 cm (2-3 inches) beneath the soil surrounding the seedling and 10-12 cm (4-5 inches) away from the seedling. The Guti should be covered after placement.

Planting Plant tomato seedlings maintaining a gap of 40 cm (16 inches) from one seedling to another and 60 cm (24 inches) from one row to another. Just before planting, apply remainder of the recommended compost. It is suggested that you plant the seedlings in the late afternoon and then water them lightly.

 Irrigation would be required while applying Guti urea if the soil is dry. At the same time, the rest of the MOP should be applied in the cabbage field.

Application of Guti Urea and Post-Planting Care

 Do not loosen the soil of the cauliflower field after applying Guti urea.

 Place Guti urea 10-12 days after planting the seedlings. The Guti should be placed 5-8 cm (2 -3 inches) beneath the soil surrounding the tomato seedling, and 9-10 cm (4 inches) away from the seedling. In one hectare of land, 360365 kg of Guti urea is required. Place 5-6 pieces of Guti urea weighing 1.8 grams each or 4-5 pieces weighing 2.7 grams each.

Tomato Mix half of the total compost, half MOP, full TSP and boric acid required during the last tilling in preparing the land.

Guti urea in Tomato

 At the same time, the rest of the MOP should be applied in the tomato field. Be careful so that the soil around the tomato plant is not removed. If needed, irrigate the field.

Appropriate period for planting: October to November (winter) Tomato Varieties:

 Any stems coming out from the lower part of the tomato plant after applying Guti urea should be cut immediately.

Advanced varieties: BARI Tomato-2, BARI Tomato-3, BARI Tomato-6, BARI Tomato-7, BARI Tomato-8, BARI Tomato-9, BARI Tomato-11, BARI Tomato-13, BARI Tomato-14 and other hybrid tomato varieties

Source: Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) and Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)

*** Selina the Beacon

Summer varieties (May-July): Hybrid

The rattling sound sends rhythm to every corner of the poorly-lit shop. Sitting on the floor, Selina lifts her head and takes a quick glance of the rolling wheel of the briquette machine. What a sound, she tells herself.

Amounts of fertilizers (except for urea) to be used Fertilizers TSP MOP Gypsum Boric Acid Compost

Amounts KG/ Hectares 300 300 75 8 5,000

Grams/ Decimals 1,200 1,200 300 35 20 kg

The motor of the machine rolls inside the small shop-cum-Guti urea factory. The briquette machine increases rice yield, is environmentally friendly and earns the family honor as successful entrepreneurs.

But nearly three years ago, things were not so good inside the shop. The family had already been ravaged by Cyclone Sidr, which ripped through southern Bangladesh the previous year.

After mixing these fertilizers, you must prepare beds of 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) height and one meter (40 inches) width. Make 30 cm (12 inches) irrigation channels in between the beds.

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“I had to stop my study as my parents were not able to pay expenses for my education,” says Selina, a talented student who failed to sit for the Higher Secondary Certificate examination because of financial constraints.

look after the five-member family, which included their two sons and her mother-in-law. With local doctors failing to help Anis get well, Selina took him to a hospital in Barisal town and he had an operation and became well.

The teenage girl opted to help support her family and to help her only brother continue his education.

But then more misfortune! Cyclone Sidr struck the south-western region of Bangladesh no sooner had Anis recovered. They lost all crops – paddy and vegetables. Rotting leaves in their ponds spread infection among the fish, killing them. Trees fell and damaged their house.

This could be one of the thousands tales of death of dreams had the protagonist not been Selina, a self-inspired spirited girl.

What would they do? The family was at a loss. To overcome the crisis, Selina borrowed money from local lenders at a high interest rate. This made things even worse.

In 2002, Selina married Anisur Rahman Khan, 39, who also comes from a poor family from Rakudia village of Babuganj upazila of Barisal district. As the eldest son, he had to be the head of his family from a young age after his father’s death. His story is also one of struggle to overcome poverty.

Turning Point April 2009 was a turning point for Selina and her family. She found out from the local sub-assistant agriculture officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension that IFDC would provide a briquette machine to manufacture Guti urea. She also learned that the ILSAFARM project would provide training.

Anisur was fortunate to find a job at his maternal uncle’s grocery-cum-fertiliser shop at Doarika Jetty. The income, which was the main lifeline for his family, stopped when the newly constructed Doarika – Shikarpur Bridge on Dhaka-Barisal Highway replaced the jetty. This was devastating to the family.

Hearing about the benefits of the new technology, Selina’s husband wasted no time in making some space in his shop for a briquette machine.

“I had some education, but there was no job in the village which could enable me to financially help the family,” Selina explains.

“I was especially interested because we could buy the machine by paying only 20 percent of the total cost,” Anis explains. Funded by USAID, the project would pay the other 80 percent.

Desperate to find a way, Selina proposed a new business idea to her husband. Impressed, Anis shared it with his uncle, who also found it interesting.

As planned, Selina bought the machine. IFDC also provided training on how to operate and manage the machine. As if born again, Selina started everything anew. She recruited four workers to help run the machine.

Anis’ uncle built a four-room shop on his land near Dhaka-Barisal Highway at Notun Hat in 2004. Anis rented one room for Tk 3,000 per month and started a grocery shop. Selina contributed a small amount of capital, which she borrowed from a local non-governmental organization (NGO). Anis bought fertilizer to sell to local farmers.

Like an expert businessman, she worked out a plan of how to popularize the machine among the farmers. She set up demonstration plots near the shop and was delighted to see many of her neighbors visiting the plots and learning about the new technology.

Everything went quite well for three years until Anis developed pain in his gallbladder. “I was left alone to run the family,” says Selina who had to 6

Volume 9

AAPI NEWS BULLETIN With support from the agriculture office and the ILSAFARM project, Selina arranged a training session in front of the demonstration plot for the farmers from Barguna. In addition, she distributed tee-shirts and other promotional materials purchased with her own money.

day. The table below can help better understand her benefits.

Cost Benefit of Guti Urea Machine in 2011 Guti Urea Production Cost Per Day

Seeing increased yields by using Guti urea, farmers became so happy that they instantly promised they would use the fertiliser.

As the farmers asked why she spends so much money for the promotional items, Selina said: “To familiarize Guti urea use and to increase sales of my products.” Good advertisement is a must to do good business, according to her.

Items

Units

Granular Urea

2 tonnes @ Tk 19.50/Kg 8 litres @ Tk 52.00/Litre 3 persons @ Tk 300 plus meals of Tk 100 per day/ Person per day per day per day

Diesel Labor

Shop rent Supervising cost Electric, mobil, grease, gear oil Marketing

“I can earn people’s trust in my activities with these demonstration plots. I am not taking any money from the landowners for this, though they are receiving an increased yield,” says Selina, adding that the IFDC officers took many people, including foreigners, to see her demonstration plot.

Shortage, and loss of granular fertilizer in production process Total cost

To help the locals, Selina launched an agriculture advisory and information center at her shop in cooperation with the local agriculture extension office and ILSAFARM, and now the current AAPI project. The local sub-assistant agriculture officer regularly advises farmers on application of Guti urea and other aspects of farming.

Price Price (In (In Taka) Taka) Tk Tk 39,000 39,000 Tk

416

Tk 1,200

Tk 100 Tk 200 Tk 120

per day

Tk

50

80 kgs per 2 Tonnes

Tk 1,560

per day

Tk Tk 42,646 42,646

Gross Margin Total production cost of 2 tonnes Guti Urea per day Total sales price @ Tk 22 a kg Gross margin per day Gross margin a year (140 days)

She arranges regular promotional video shows like ”Mukta” about urea deep placement (UDP) technology.

Tk 42,646 42,646 Tk Tk 44,000 44,000 Tk Tk 1,354 1,354 Tk Tk 189,560 189,560 Tk

While Selina made good profits from the Guti urea production, her husband also had good business and increased his capital worth. To expand his business, Anis is selling seeds this year.

“It has become like a mini krishi (agriculture) office,” says a proud Selina, adding that all the activities created more demand for Guti urea in the area day by day.

Selina produced 104 tonnes of Guti urea in 2009 followed by 280 tonnes – 30 tonnes in Aus, 90 tonnes in Aman and 160 tonnes in Boro season – in 2010.

Apart from this, Anis also cultivates his 80 decimals of land. Using Guti urea, yields are increased by 25 percent.

During Boro season, they get around 45 maunds of rice, while during Aman it was around 25 maunds.

Meanwhile, they grow mung beans during Aus season. The rice they grow in two seasons is more than their annual requirements.

Till November 5 this year, she produced 40 tonnes during Aus season and 30 tonnes in Aman. For Boro, Selina produced 108 tonnes of Guti urea.

She is expecting to produce an additional 100 tonnes by the end of the year.

How does she manage her family and personal life as a successful, hard-working businesswoman? “I get encouragement from my family,” Selina said.

Operating the Guti machine 140 days a year on an average, she produces two tonnes of fertilizer per 7

Volume 9

AAPI NEWS BULLETIN Her parents are accomplishments.

also

proud

of

her

Asked about her future plans, Selina says they are soon going to buy a piece of land to build a house near their shop. “This will save the time now we have to waste traveling between home and the shop.”She also dreams of purchasing land for constructing their own shop and factory.

But educating both their sons remains the main dream of the couple.

A woman whom no-one knew once now deals with the local agriculture officers, markets her products and motivates farmers to use Guti urea that increases rice yield and protects the environment.

Happy Selina with her family

While going to Chittagong a few months back, her father met a traveler who inquired about his bag, which was inscribed with “On behalf of the American people.” Saying that his daughter received it from IFDC, he shared the story about Selina, her briquette machine and Guti urea. “My parents feel very proud telling the story,” Selina said.

All these have brought name and fame, which she has dreamt of since her childhood.

“I feel very honored and proud when people call me Selina Apa [madam]. Earlier, I had a fear that people might criticize me. But they now appreciate me so much for my work,” says a happy and determined Selina, who faced all odds in a male-dominated society to reverse her fate.

Asked about what her neighbors think about her work, Selina says she has not faced anything negative from any of them.

Expressing her gratitude to IFDC, Selina says, “I would like to see more female entrepreneurs like me all over the country.”

When some women ask Selina why she wants to do this laborious job usually done by men, a confident Selina replies she is doing an excellent job that increases rice yield, which is a national priority.

*** Message to Boro Farmers During the last Boro season, about 580,805 farmers in the AAPI project area used urea deep placement (UDP) technology on 172,372 hectares (ha) of land. This upcoming Boro season, with our scale-up, we expect to have over 1 million farmers using UDP on over 588,000 ha of land. Deep placement of urea provides for more efficient use of nitrogen (N) and this translates into about 30 percent less urea applied and about 1 metric ton yield per ha increase.

Besides being a champion for the cause, Selina proved herself to be a very kind-hearted person.

When one employee had his finger cut while operating the Guti machine a few months ago, she and her husband rushed him to a doctor and got him the best treatment.

“This was an incident we do not see happening often. It is a rare case of care shown to employees,” said one local.

Boro season is knocking at your door. Why don’t you become a partner with AAPI and benefit from the technology?

To be a partner:

Once the family, which struggled a few years ago to provide meals, is now working for the welfare of the locals.

Selina has also given a facelift to their house: she bought two decorated cots for herself and for her mother-in-law, a wooden almirah and a showcase.

They recently constructed a sanitary latrine and a tubewell for drinking water.

 Select land for a seed bed, which is well drained and has access to irrigation.  Ensure the irrigation can deliver water for timely sowing and regular supply.

8

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AAPI NEWS BULLETIN  Use good quality seed of a high yielding variety (HYV) or hybrid to give you good quality seedlings. Test the germination of the seed if you are unsure. It should be 85-90 percent.

sq meters or 2.5 decimal of paddy land. In other words, 169 kg of Guti urea will be needed per ha of paddy land (78 kg N per ha).

Our research and the experience of adopting farmers have found this amount to be enough for the total term of the crop and will provide the highest yields.

 Select a modern variety (BRRIdhan - 28, BRRIdhan - 29, BRRIdhan - 47 [salt tolerant], BINA - 8 and hybrid) suitable for your locality. Consult your local sub-assistant agriculture officer (SAAO) of the Department of Agricultural Extension or the AAPI field monitoring officer (FMO) if you need advice on a suitable variety and seed supply.  The ratio of seed bed to paddy field is 1:20.

Therefore 1 bigha (33 decimals) of seed bed will transplant to a 20 bigha (660 decimals) paddy field.  An ideal nursery would have seed beds 1 meter wide and 5-10 meters long with 25-30 cm drain between the beds.

 Use a Guti urea applicator to save labor for cost-effective and economically profitable production.

 Fertilize the seed beds with organic and inorganic fertilizers. The recommended fertilizer doses for a 1 square (sq) meter or 0.025 decimal seed bed are: 2 kilograms (kg) cow dung; 4 gram (gm) TSP; 7 gm MOP; and 10 gm gypsum. Urea is applied 10 days after seeding at the rate of 7 gm per sq meter.

Do what you love! Love what you do? *** AAPI Events in December 2011

 Seed the seed bed during November 15 to December 15, the optimum time for seeding.

In the month of December, AAPI is concentrating its activities for Boro paddy. In this month, the following activities will be carried out.

 Use 60-80 gm of good quality seed per sq meter in the seed bed. Remember that too many seeds per sq meter will produce weaker seedlings.

 1,196 batches of training for Boro farmers

 Contact your nearest Guti urea supplier to get 2.7 gm Guti urea briquettes and, if possible, procure your Guti urea at least 15 days earlier than the time required to avoid rush or nonavailability. If you have problems with supply, contact your nearest SAAO or project FMO.

 25 training of trainers (TOT) for DAE staff

 Transplant when seedlings are 35-45 days old in 20 x 20 cm lines with recommended doses of fertilizers (except urea) to ensure balanced fertilization. Contact your local SAAO or project FMO to obtain the recommended rates.

 6 orientation training programs

 Use 2.7 gm Guti urea 5-7 days after transplanting with placement as per diagram.

This will require 1,688 gm Guti urea per 100

 10 motivational workshop

 7 training for briquette producers  129 demo establish  14 trial establish  1 motivational field trips  162 motivational meetings with Boro farmers

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