Thanksgiving and More Planting by Cory

 Since we are in the southern hemisphere, it was like the last week of May here for Thanksgiving week.

The 2nd half of November was busy  planting corn and close to 50 acres was planted.

Some risk exists planting this early in that the rains could be sparse. 

The yield potential is higher this way and less risk if rains end early. 

It is already December and last year rains ended Jan. 20, causing almost all the crops to fail. 

We enjoyed 2 inches of rain right after Thanksgiving so the corn should all germinate now and be off to a good start.

There is plenty of hand labor available.

This income is very welcome during a year when many do not have money to buy enough food.

Rented oxen teams do the heavier work of making the planting trenches and most of the seed covering.

Next week we plan to prepare some fields for soybeans and sunflower.

Many thanks to Patrick and the church district overseer for organizing the day labor.

There is also a man and his dog chasing quail or partridge-like birds at dawn and dusk as they like to pull up the young corn plants and eat the soft seed.

We enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving with the teachers, Patrick and Austin, a Bible student who also teaches Fritz Tonga, and his wife.

The night included a short devotional, a video explaining the history of Thanksgiving and each shared about something we are thankful for.

Rev. Samson's wife, who works at the Jembo Hospital reported that a recent survey of 1,400 children in this area only found 5 with malnutrition and only one of those was severe.

This was much lower than anticipated due to the drought.

The area north of Livingstone had a slightly better harvest than this area but famine is worse there now.

We are thankful the Jembo Agriculture Project is now on the Global Partners Website:Jembo Agriculture Project to help with costs getting the farming established while resources are scarce.

The average small farmer in Zambia gets about 50 bushels per acre of corn but good seed has the potential to yield 200 or more bushels.

In many areas the soil is too acid, like the reddish-brown soil in this Jembo field (pH 4.5) but not many people apply lime to reduce the acidity.

Corn will also need a lot of nitrogen fertilizer mid-season.

Mixing fertilizers

We will soon be buying soybean seeds, which are expensive but soybean and sunflower don't require much fertilizer.

Planting Season by Cory

November 9

The soil test showed a need on most of the fields for dolomitic lime to provide calcium and magnesium and to reduce the acidity of the soil. 

We aren't prepared to apply the recommended thousand pounds per acre but could handle about 200 pounds per acre spread in the rip lines where the rows of corn will be planted.

The weekend after the lime spreading we had good rains but lightning burned out the utility part of the campus water pump.

We installed the new pump we planned to install in the new borehole but it seems to be defective on utility power and it has given many maintenance challenges.

It can pump now with solar power so we have water when there is sun.

It has not worked well to fill the storage tank so everyone on the campus, including us heads to a pipe between our house and Rev. Benson's to fill buckets with water when it is pumping. 

Tuesday or Wednesday would have been good for the tractors to plant but the farm institute was busy with their inauguration celebration of the new government supplied equipment and promoting its use for small farmers.

It was a long program with some traditional dances and talks by the seed companies, and a nice mid afternoon lunch at the end.

By the time the the tractors were ready to plant or fields they found the planter didn't dig deep enough in fields that had dried.

So we wait for rain again.

In the meantime we did some hand planting. 

28 people worked close to 6 hours to slightly deepen the rip lines, plant seed and fertilizer and cover the seed on 3.3 acres.

If the workers had long handle hoes it would have been much easier work.

So today we had 2 pair of oxen open planting furrows and they did 4.4 acres in 4 hours.

They will work again tomorrow and then the planters will be hired along with 4 teams of oxen to cover the seed.

Patrick and Cory planted fruit trees in the orchard to fill in where trees, mostly avocados, had died during the past two years.

Buying Seed and Fertilizer by Cory

The Jembo Church farmers were invited to bring a sample of their seed and soil to be prayed over during last week's service.

Prayers continue for a good harvest next year to ease the suffering from the drought and crop failures earlier this year.

The government has done very well getting seed and fertilizer vouchers on time to the small farmers for 2.5 acres or less of land. 

In past years much of it arrived late.

So the stores are struggling to keep up with demand.

Monday I called a large supplier in Choma, and they gave a price which was low enough to pay for the trip vs. going to Monze, which is closer.

When we arrived the stores with good prices were out of stock or couldn't ship.

 So Thursday we went to Monze and successfully bought seed, fertilizer and lime, although most of the stores there were also crowded.

A flat bed truck had been hired to bring the fertilizer and lime to Jembo.

We delayed getting fertilizer until the soil test results arrived Monday.

The testing was well worth the cost since now we know that about 1/3 of the land only needs nitrogen and sulfer; about half is extremely acid, needing dolmitic lime and all the regular fertillizers.

When we were ready to return to Jembo, crowds gathered along the streets to see a massive piece of equipment that had come from Asia, through Namibia and Livingstone, traveling  to the Copperbelt in northwest Zambia.

It will produce pure oxygen for smelting copper and increase Zambia's copper production.

The Agriculture Project for the Global Partners website was delayed again waiting for the local bank account which  needed some "clarification" on the documents before opening the account but we hope to have the project on GP soon to help with getting the new farm established.

We have seed and fertilizer now for 55 acres of corn, with more land for corn, soybeans and sunflower to be planted before mid December.

Fritz's Birthday and Continuing Land Preparation

Last week was Fritz's birthday!

He is growing up fast.

Thank you to everyone who sent birthday greetings.

Fritz enjoyed them all and I helped him to know some of the connections of people.

We enjoyed some home-made pizza and cake, along with store bought ice-cream.

He is working hard at school and enjoys soccer and helping set up games with local teams.

Thursday was Zambia's Independence Day day so we had a long weekend. 

Fritz enjoyed joining the students at Jembo school for the celebration and lunch. 
 

Bags of corn seed and fertilizer was distributed from the Zambian Wesleyan Church to the district pastors and some of the Bible College students.

A utility/solar hybrid pump and solar panels was also delivered for the new borehole but we need to buy the pipe in town.

The gardens and trees are still suffering from the limited water supply.

Monday, Patrick, two of the teachers and I visited a government farm institute that is only a few miles away.

The government is encouraging mechanization and provides equipment to the institute. It can then be hired to prepare fields and there is equipment for even very small fields.

There is also equipment to increase the value of crops like grinders for cornmeal and peanut butter and presses for sunflower and soy oil.

The fees are just enough to cover fuel, maintenance, labor, and to help the program grow.

The field rates are almost as low as hiring oxen at close to $10 per acre.

22 acres were ripped on Saturday by two tractors despite much of the time being spent replacing shear pins due to hitting tree stumps, a few rocks and very hard dry soil.

It would take a team of oxen 1 or 2 days to do one acre.

On Monday work was on one of the fields with the most tree stumps so going was slower. 

The red ripper is hard to get adjusted correctly (too deep causes the tractor to lose traction) so it didn't get much done.

They plan to bring a two prong ripper for the next day.

Rain would soften the soil and make the work much easier but any delay in planting causes loss of yield potential so we are happy to have at least part of the land prepared before rain.

Last night we received about 3/10 of an inch and it soaked in a couple inches.

Unfortunately a lightning strike took out the power so limited water for the compound today.

Thankfully the gardens and trees will not be needing to be watered today-while we wait for the power to come back on.

 Most years our area doesn't have a long enough rainy season for the higher yield late maturity corn varieties.

People were encouraged to bring their seeds to church on Sunday so that they can be prayed over. 

The plan is to plant a few different corn seed types...early, middle, and late.

After some good rains we also plan to hire people to dig stumps.

Than you for the prayers. 

 

Preparing Land for Planting

 

Friday was Zambia's National Day of Prayer and fasting for confession and reconciliation.

Saturday morning almost all (33) of the Bible College students, several pastors and teachers and the church district overseer went to the mission lands to continue cleaning fields for planting - what will mostly be corn but also soybeans and sunflowers.

 Some of the students were up all night for prayer so a few arrived late and in their church clothes.

I collected 3 soil samples for lab analysis to determine fertilizer and lime requirements.

There were more workers than tools. 

Work ended early at 10am but one of the goals is to remind the neighbors that we are serious about farming the land this year so they can't start preparing it. 

The neighbors have been using the land but haven't been paying rent like they were supposed to. They have other land they can shift to.

Free range cattle look hungry eating pods under a
 "monkey bread"tree.

Thursday Patrick, the principal and I visited the local district commissioner about hiring government equipment.

The government is working hard to increase crop production. The official was happy to hear our plans to plant about 55 acres of corn and noted that we are the first to ask about equipment use this year. 

The government requires them to report how much the equipment is used and they want to generate more demand, so there may be some publicity involved.

Interesting name choice.
We bought a small bag of an early variety 
to get some corn sooner for corn
on the cob grilled or boiled

They plan to have the tractors serviced and rental rates determined this week. They said they could prepare, plant and fertilize the whole 55 acres in one day.

Please pray for favor that they give extra subsidy in the rental rate as resources are very scarce due to the drought. Normal to above normal rains are predicted this year. If the harvest is good it will be very profitable. The worst drought in 100 years also gives exceptional opportunity. Everyone's, including the governments large food stocks are depleted and Zambia is now importing corn instead of exporting.

Production costs are low. The government sets the corn price each year. The main cost is seed and fertilizer. Excellent hybrid corn seed from companies like Pioneer, Dekalb (Bayer) and Zamseed is only about $1.50 per pound and 25 pounds are planted per acre. Oxen plow for about $7 per acre but not enough are available for the short planting season due to the short rainy season. The government has equipment for hire that doesn't cost much more than doing the same with oxen.

Corn is about $8 per bushel government price, the market is currently a few dollars higher and current USA price is about $4.  I was told we may harvest about 160 bushels per acre. Seems too good to be possible for farming, brings the verse to mind:

Ephesians 3:20 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

It is encouraging to see God creating an effective team to work together toward a large harvest to support the work of the church, helping it break free from dependency and poverty.

Rev. Patrick, like most of the rural pastors, has experience growing fairly large corn fields to support himself. So it is very reassuring having him as assistant manager of the agriculture project as I don't have  experience growing commercial grains.

Just the food needs of the lunch programs of the Wesleyan schools and medical work can provide a big market in the future for cornmeal, (the staple food of Zambians), sunflower oil, vegetables and chickens.

We hope to have the Global Partners Agriculture Project ready in the next week or so to help fund getting the Ag. Project established.

The new borehole was tested but the pump rope (150 foot long, water table at 90') and wire was too short so we are not very confident of the results. The drilling company reported 22 gallons per minute with a good water strike at 180 feet but the test gave about 5. At least it held steady for an hour and should give more when a pump is installed at least 30 feet deeper.