• This came from Roland Bunch,
who visited the Ecology Action Mini-Farm in March:
“Of all the technologies
we value for the tropics, I should think one would
be of particular interest to those in the lowland
tropics who are trying your systems [GROW BIOINTENSIVE].
That is the technology of ‘dispersed shade’.
This refers to a method of deliberately planting
trees (or allowing trees that volunteer to grow)
in such a pattern as to have approximately 15 to
20% shade across the entire cropped area. Because
we have an excess of sun in the lowland tropics
(plants cease to grow during midday because of the
excess), we can increase by about 50% the productivity
of virtually any food crop by having this amount
of shade. But this also provides the possibility
of growing useful trees that also produce food or
whatever in addition to the more productive vegetables
or field crops. … Also important for the tropics
is the chance this excess sunlight gives us for
intercropping, thereby increasing tremendously (up
to 80%) the biomass (carbon) we can produce in a
given area. Because of these technological possibilities
and several others, I have thought for many years
that the tropics could and should be the breadbasket
of the world.”
• This was written by Yesica
Cusiyupanqui of Cusco, Peru, while she was an intern
at Golden Rule Garden in 2005:
The Sacred Valley of the Incas
has a wonderful climate that is suitable for the
production of different kinds of crops such as vegetables,
grains, fruits, tubers, and the great variety of
Andean crops and tubers native to the mountains
of the Valley. The main crop for most of the farmers
is corn. The “Cusco Giant White Corn”
variety is the crop that generates the biggest economic
income for the farmers because of its great demand
in the national market and abroad. This variety
is characterized by its big white grains.
Every year, each farmer selects his/her own seeds
before and after each harvest. Some of them do it
first in the field when the plant is still in the
last stage of the ripening process. The characteristics
that are most taken into account are vigor, health,
size of the plant, size of the cob when ripening,
diameter of the cob, etc. The plants that have good
characteristics are marked in order to harvest them
separately. After carrying out the cultural work
related to the harvest, the reselection of the marked
cobs is done in the drying shed. The cobs that do
not have 8 straight lines, that are not completely
filled with grains, that have deformed grains, that
have a different color other than white or are not
healthy enough are discarded. Some farmers do the
selection of the whole batch in the drying shed,
always taking into account the aforementioned characteristics.
The exchange or purchase of seeds is done depending
on the altitude and the zone. … The seeds
from the low zones are generally big but not very
heavy whereas the grains from the high zones are
regular in size but heavy. The size of the grains
varies because of the kind of soil, the water that
is used for watering, and the altitude. This activity
is done only among the farmers of the Sacred Valley
of the Incas because that is the only place in which
this variety is grown.
From my own experience and the experience of other
farmers it is very important to do the exchange
of seeds in order to improve the quality and amount
of production, to have plants that are more resistant
to disease and pests, and to keep the purity of
the variety.
• There is an excellent article about Grain
Amaranth in the April 2006 issue of ECHO Development
Notes (ECHO, 17391 Durrance Road, North Ft. Myers
FL 33917; www.echonet.org). It is long and detailed,
including information about the family, its nutritional
and medicinal benefits, drought tolerance, etc.
“Amaranth grain contains about 16 percent
protein, compared to around 10 percent in most cereals.”
The article calls it a “pseudocereal”
since it doesn’t belong to the grass family.
“The protein in grain amaranth is of extremely
high quality, meaning that it has a good mix of
essential amino acids and is easily digested, absorbed
and retained. … Amaranth grain is very high
in lysine” and, “according to Lost Crops
of the Incas…also high in calcium, phosphorus,
iron, potassium, zinc, vitamin E and vitamin B-complex.”
This comes from a Resurgence online
article (www.resurgence.org/selection/egziabher1005.htm):
“Can Organic Farming Feed the World?”
by Tewolde B.G. Egziabher and Susan Burnell Edwards.
Egziabher is the Director General of the Environmental
Protection Authority of Ethiopia and co-founder
of the Institute of Sustainable Development. The
article was taken from a lecture given in July 2005
on behalf of the Soil Association.
“The term ‘organic farming’ was
coined in the second half of the 20th century to
qualify the food production system that has nourished
the world for 10,000 years. … Since organic
farming has thus established its credentials, the
real question I think we should be addressing this
evening is, … ‘Can this newcomer, industrial
agriculture, continue feeding the world for the
coming 10,000 years and more?’ “ The
article goes on to discuss qualities of organic
agriculture and of industrial agriculture and then
talks about the work being done “with some
farming communities in Tigray, Ethiopia. These communities
started working with us on degraded land. They carried
out physical soil erosion control activities (terraces,
check dams across gullies and trench bunds). They
restricted free range grazing to small areas and
cut and carried grass and other leaves to feed their
animals. Trees and grass cover then returned fully
to the land. This was all traditional to them, but
the breakdown of their local community organization
had prevented them from acting collectively to use
it. We encouraged them to revive their community
organization. … We trained them on how to
prepare and use compost. … Latterly, we have
introduced transplanting their long season crops
(finger millet, sorghum, maize) to ensure a long
enough growing season even when the rainy seasons
become shorter. And the rainy seasons are getting
shorter and more erratic owing to climate change.
The change in their life and environment has been
dramatic.” The authors include before and
after photos of the area and charts which show the
yields and income received from various crops using
compost, as well as control crops grown with conventional
agriculture. Yields and income of crops with compost
use are considerably higher for all crops except
for wheat |