AC4D Farm Manager Measuring Irrigation Pond for its Cover

Measuring the Irrigation Storage Pond for a Fitted Cover

AC4D activities are advancing rapidly in preparation for planting.

This week we cleaned the trial fields and built a water storage pond.  In the coming days we will fit the pond with a waterproof plastic substrate and plow our land in preparation for the addition of organic fertilizer.  Next we will lay out our water application network and put evaporation inhibiting plastic covers over each row of vegetables before planting.  The irrigation network is designed to minimize water loss to evaporation while enhancing plant water and nutrient availability.

The goal is to produce the most crop for the least amount of water and fertilizer.  Water and fertilizer are some of the biggest on-farm expenses that smallholders incur and their judicious use can be the difference between failure and success.