My last post from Burundi. Sadly--it's been a good trip. This is mixture of plantain--one of the disease resistant varieties I've been telling you about--and Mucuna pruriens (aka. Velvet Bean) which is a green manure crop, capable of producing high volumes of organic matter (as you can see), and nitrogen which makes it a natural fertilizer, increasing yields without addition of any chemical nutrients. This makes it cheaper for the farmer, more easily accessible, and is better overall for the health of the soil. The program here is just experimenting with this--a technology that has been proven in other parts of the world--but we need to work with it and make some adjustments so that it will be well adapted to the local situation. From this particular experimental field, generously offered to us by a local farmer, we are able to run such a test, as well as produce and multiply seed to share with others.
Technically this post is not actually from Burundi, I'm in the Nairobi airport where they've given me an hour of free internet. Thanks Jomo Kenyatta International.
2 comments:
Hey Bob,
Isn't velvet bean that one that has the hairs that make a person itch like crazy if they get near it? Not sure if it is the same one but ran in to a patch of it near my house here in Malawi. The kids say to play pranks on each other they would throw some of the beans in a neighbors bed and hear them screaming at night. Regardless, nice guild and stay well!
There is a wild velvet bean which is definitely irritating and should not be used. But there are strains of velvet bean that do not have the tiny hairs on the pod and these are the types that are used as green manures.
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