Work Update (PART 2)

As often happens when I´m at the office, I arrive, I get focused, I start computer work… and then I get distracted.  My coworkers stop by my desk to talk, visitors are always walking in and out, or I visit my counterpart´s office and we end up having long crazy conversations.  This might sound highly unproductive to the average Westerner, and it certainly felt that way to me at first.  But once I settled into the laid-back rhythm, I realized that I very much enjoy the extra interactive personal time that is an essential part of Salvadoran work culture. Don´t get me wrong, I definitely get my work done, but at my office, there is always time for another coffee break.

The second big project with which I am involved focuses on many aspects of sustainable agriculture. I and my coworkers give technical trainings on organic alternatives to the purchase and use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, as well as discussions about community organization. We meet with community leaders, who then pass on the trainings to members of their communities. The over-arching goal is to achieve food security in the area.

 At the moment we are teaching about different ways to fertilize soil organically.  One technique, that we put to use at our demonstrative corn fields, is the addition of gallinaza, chicken droppings, to the soil. I have also been researching and writing a manual about composting techniques, and will be giving a training on that topic in the future.  Hopefully we will be able to construct some compost piles soon.  We have also been giving trainings about Legumes. 

Legumes are the family of pod-producing plants that include beans, peanuts, and lentils. In the world of organic agriculture, they are known for their ability to add Nitrogen to their soil environment, an essential nutrient for all plants.  At the moment we are trying to integrate the use of Jack-bean or "Canavalia" into local agricultural methods.  Though we had read that Canavalia is able to fix about 65 lbs of Nitrogen into an acre of cornfield, we still had no idea how many plants we would need for that acre, nor did we know how long this process would take.  

One day, after discussing this lack of knowledge with my counterpart at work, I found myself attending to the tiny garden at the back of our office.  Some coworkers had tried to grow corn there, but only a few scraggly plants persisted in the poor soil, along with a scraggly lemon tree.  As an experiment, we planted 10 Canavalia seeds around the lemon tree.  We intend to observe any changes in lemon quality and overall tree health as a way to measure the effects and timing of the use of Canavalia.  And after the planting, we collected lemons together, took them to the office kitchen, and made lemonade.  

 This story really demonstrates my office atmosphere – we can take the time to plan and execute a little science experiment and afterwards take a pre-lunch break to make lemonade.   It also reminds me of so many things that I´ve enjoyed about working in the agricultural field:

1. the hands-on work is just as important as the computer work, and way more fun
2. farmer innovation is amazing
3. agriculture facilitates crucial cross-cultural bonding, especially when
4. there is always food involved

 

Work Update (PART 1)

Every day at my work brings something new. Some days I´m at the office and other days I´m visiting our community groups. At the moment I am involved with two projects. The first revolves around breeding corn, while the second is focused on various aspects of organic agriculture.

The goal of our corn project is to cultivate and breed varieties of maíz criollo, or “creole” corn, in order to decrease dependency on commercially produced hybrid corn and the chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that come with it. Maíz criollo really just means the local varieties of corn that have been domesticated and selectively-bred to suit human needs for thousands of years in Mesoamerica. Yes, corn is a completely domesticated plant; at this point in its evolution it is dependent on humans for survival.

In El Salvador, corn gets planted in the month of June to take advantage of the rainy season. It grows to around 8 feet tall, reproduces through wind pollination, and develops a corn cob containing the seeds (grains) which are harvested in November for consumption. You can make many dishes out of the different varieties of corn (for example popcorn versus sweet corn) and out of the different stages of corn growth. In August it is elote season, when the grains reach the ripeness necessary for corn on the cob and atol, a thick corn drink served sweetened and very hot.

What this means in terms of creole corn breeding is that we have to plan ahead a bit. At certain points in the agricultural cycle we choose plants, then cobs and then seeds that show favourable characteristics. These include greater harvest yield, favourable plant size, demonstrated plant health, and so forth – the good traits that we want the next generation of corn plants to have. We store the final selection of seeds for planting next year.

The organization that I work for supports 4 different community groups with technical training and raw materials to be put to use in collectively farmed plots of land. The idea is that at each of the fields we use only organic agricultural techniques (no chemicals!) to cultivate the corn, and thus demonstrate the possibilities and benefits of this kind of agriculture. My job involves a bit of everything: providing technical support in the field, recording the whole process digitally (photos and field notebook), and writing 2 manuals on corn breeding techniques. One is specifically geared for use by an agronomist and the other for use by a farmer. I really love the hands-on aspect of agricultural work, and the fact that I learn something new every day. My coworkers are extremely knowledgeable and a lot of fun. Right now we are waiting for the grains to finish drying and maturing so that they can be harvested very soon.