Successes to date

After the last post about the trials that didn't work well we would like to focus on some of the trials that have been successful to this point in the season.  These are the trials that we will showcasing to farmers this week at our early season farmer field day. 

Artichoke - Cauliflower Intercropping
Artichoke plants are very large and long lived.  Consequently, they need lots of space and lots of time to grow to maturity.  With this in mind, we chose cauliflower as a companion for the first year in order to demonstrate to farmers both the feasibility of growing artichoke under Jordan Valley conditions and the fact that they do not have to forfeit all revenue the first year that they plant artichoke.    We planted two heads of cauliflower for unit of artichoke in order to give the artichoke plenty of room to grow in the years to come.  Next year we will not likely be able to plant between the artichokes but by that time they should be producing multiple heads and more than carrying their weight financially. 

Asparagus
As is evident from the picture below the asparagus that was grown at greenhouse has been transplanted to the farm and is doing well.  It has been planted in a raised bed to facilitate separation next winter when it reaches adulthood.  We will not likely use a greenhouse to rear seeds in the future as it was expensive and unnecessary when labor is available to keep budding asparagus well weeded.  The good news is that the plants themselves are thriving and constitute the first examples of asparagus production available to Jordan Valley farmers. 

Phytoremediation of resting soil
After a solid month of rain, soils finally reached saturation to a depth of over 25cm allowing us the ability plant a barley cover crop.  The cover crop builds soil structure, enhances rainwater infiltration, develops healthy microbial life, boosts soil carbon and organic content, and reduces salt loading from previous years of irrigation.  These soil health enhancements will make a significant difference to next years productivity and when done over a number of years they will restore soil to a level of health that can support life year round - lessening soil loss from wind erosion.         

Our goal is to give both land owners and farmers cost effective tools with which to develop healthier, more productive, land and in turn to break the cycle of "abuse it and try somewhere else" that currently characterizes farmers relationships to both land and the land owners with whom they work in partnership.  Healing the land will have the effect of enriching partnerships and communities.

Improving Soil Health - One Seed at a Time

Today our Jordan Valley team began the process of growing winter barley.  The barley is significant for its contribution to our soil health enhancement program.  While the process of growing rainfed winter barley is remarkably simple its effects are meant to be highly significant to our crop rotation.  Barley is unique in that it utilizes a lot of salt in the production of its stalk and head.  This makes it an ideal candidate for a process called phytoremediation.  While this process is most often used to cleans soils of heavy or toxic material it can, theoretically, also be used to cleans soil of anything that the plant will uptake as it grows, in our case salt.  The process is simple; spread grain on the open field, disc it into the ground, wait for rain to germinate and grow seeds into full grown plants, harvest both head and stalk material and remove them from the land carrying the undesirable material with them.  The main reason that we have chosen to grow this crop in the winter is so that it can be produced without the use of saline irrigation water adding further salt to the soil.  Cover crops, like wheat, grass and barley, also enhance organic content in the soil through their root systems and encourage infiltration after precipitation, further flushing the top layer soil from salt deposits. 

Barley seed is spread thorough the field

The field is then disced to plant them

 Nature does the rest until harvest.

This process is both very inexpensive, costing us around $5 per dunum (1000m2), and easy.  The whole process took no more than 2 hours to plant 5 acres, 20 dunum.  Research on phytoremediation shows that the benefits can be significant - enhancing land productivity for years.  This aspect of our soil health program is designed to give local farmers simple and inexpensive alternatives to leaving their fields untouched during resting rotations which most often just forms a hard pan at the surface of the field discouraging rainwater infiltration and further reducing the organic content of the topsoil.  

Lessons Learned

We recently had to uproot several of the yellow squash portions in one of the main multicropping trials that we are running, the three sisters trial.  The decision was made due to mold infestation that was affecting their productivity.  While the variety was becoming popular, its vulnerability to disease made it a poor choice for the Jordan Valley.  Next season, we will integrate a locally available zucchini variety to replace yellow squash.  We also noted that we would do well to plant corn a few weeks before the climbing beans as the beans tend to outgrow the corn in the early days after germination.

Armed with some local knowledge, we believe that the 3 sisters concept of providing shade, nitrogen fixation and multiple layers of growth will be very successful in the Jordan Valley.

3 Sisters Trial - Mid Winter

 

Success with Tomatoes

Several neighbors have inquired about our protected tomato trials.  We took pains in the early season to build mounded lines in our greenhouses (a best management practice not commonly used in our area) and to plant our tomatoes while the weather was still very warm, another uncommon practice.  Because of our early season planning our indoor crop is the first in our area to ripen and would almost certainly have hit the local market before competitors.  Early to market means higher prices.  The lesson to farmers from this trial has been well received, "early season planning yields significant dividends."

Protected tomato trials as they begin to ripen

More Variety - Better Nutrition

The demonstration farm is now producing at roughly half capacity.  Cucumbers, zuchinni, sweet peppers and eggplant are all being picked regularly and packaged to be sent to refugee families all over northern Jordan.  Currently over 300 families are being served through this initiative.  Farmers are regularly visiting our fields to ask about our methodologies and varieties and we will host our first farmer field day before the beginning of 2015 to introduce the community to our work in greater detail and to facilitate a broader set of relationships within the Jordan Valley. 

An average box of produce being given to refugee families. 

Our last delivery before it was loaded for delivery.

Developing Capacity

The demonstration farm is currently producing over 3,000kg of vegetables per week and our partners in the cities of Mafraq and Zarqa are distributing to over 250 families.  In the coming weeks we will begin producing from the greenhouses which will significantly enhance output.  We will also be hosting our first farmer field day in the coming weeks.

Greenhouse tomatoes

Preparing to Produce . . .

The stage is set for AC4Ds trial and demo farm to begin producing a great variety of vegetables and fruit within the month.  In December the farm will begin producing indoor and outdoor varieties of tomato, sweet and hot pepper, eggplant and cucumber.  It will also begin producing outdoor varieties of zucchini, squash in multiple varieties, tomatoes, green beans, broad beans and cauliflower.  The majority of this produce will go to feed refugee families here in Jordan.  In addition to the humanitarian benefit the production techniques and variety comparison will serve as a test bed for local farmers.  While agricultural extension is our primary focus the AC4D program  is priviledged to work alongside Operation Mercys Relief Program to meet the needs of over 100 displaced families for the next four months. 

Open Field Tomatoes

Deafness Tomatoes

Babylon Cucumbers

Guacho Zucchini

Dalia Eggplant

First Food Order for Refugees

Produce from the farm this winter is going almost exclusively to feed Syrian refugee families all over Northern Jordan.  This food aid comes at a crucial time as the World Food Program has just suspended food aid for over 1.7 million Syrian refugees due to a lack of funding.    As the winter sets in, Operation Mercy Jordan is pleased to produce and distribute over 15,000 lbs of fresh produce per month to displaced families who are in need. 

Our first food aid offering included two varieties of eggplant and a generous portion of sweet corn

Half of our first weeks order of 210 boxes during packing.  Note the two types of eggplant

Rain

The Middle Jordan Valley has been unseasonably wet in the last week enabling an additional 20 dunum, 5 acres, of barley to be planted without the use of irrigation.  Growing wheat or barley is a natural way to draw salts from topsoil.  When grown from rainfall salt in the soil is taken up into the stalks and heads of grain crops.  Barley in particular is hearty and can serve as a fodder even if enough moisture is not available to form grain.

AC4D staff removing lint from late planted crops

Due to heavy rains we have also been able to uncover the three sisters and zucchini sections early.  We should begin producing zucchini within the next couple of weeks.   

First Harvest

Today the trial and demo farm offered up its first produce.  We harvested significantly more than we anticipated and ran out of boxes for the eggplant before starting on the "Classic" eggplant which we will pick on Saturday.  We finished the day by treating neighbors to a very late and very well deserved lunch.

50 Boxes of "Jaguar" Eggplant

Lunch with our neighbors after harvesting

We were also privileged to host two groups of visitors today.  One is a pesticide company who is working with us to trial a benign form of pesticide on our land.  If effective it is good for us, good for our neighbors and good for the environment.  We also received a visit from representatives from Cattle for Christ International, an NGO founded to support beef cattle production among smallholders in the developing world. 

Members of Cattle for Christ International and the AC4D Project Manager