ZAMBIA SRI ARCHIVES
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Archives (2005-2007)
2007
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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 North-West Province Agricultural, Commercial, Mining and Industrial Show that was organized by the government in August, 2007. The farmer group was awarded 2nd prize, coming in behind by an HIV/AIDS program. Henry Ngimbu, the Society's agricultural advisor, has provided a short PowerPoint presentation (826KB pdf) on the display and winning of the prize, which is helping to further publicize SRI in the region.
2005-2006
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Zambia is 24th Country Where SRI Effect is Demonstrated
The Esek Farmers' Cooperative Society hosted on June 30, 2006, 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 traveling hundreds of kilometers to attend. Mr. Salivaji, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President for North-Western 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 left 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 25 x 25 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
(as a PowerPoint) describing methods and results.Presently, food insecurity is great in North-Western 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.
