Production diversification / Learning Story

A LEARNING STORY IMPROVED COASTAL WATERSHEDS AND LIVELIHOODS PROJECT

A field school becomes a life-changing experience to generate income and preserve biodiversity and the environment Using environmentally friendly best agricultural practices has been the first step for René García, a 22 year old from San Alejo, El Salvador, to change his life and his way of farming, as a result of his learning process in field schools.

“I like everything, especially learning how to prepare organic products against insects, because when you eat a product, it is healthy, and you’re not using too many chemicals; when you use a chemical you may feel it doesn’t harm you, but at the end, you are being harmed, and if you make organic preparations, like, if I toss it today, I can cut and eat the produce I’m cultivating as early as the next day, or even today.

They have taught me how to cultivate tilapia, which was null in my mind; we have learned quite a lot. What I would mostly like would be to see people changing, seeing farmers stop applying so many chemicals. It would be more than good: not applying so many chemicals, not burning the parcels; because we are causing problems to the environment. That´s why I think so much water pours around here lately.”

René is an example of a dedicated and hard work person, who has depended on farming to survive since he was very little. Together with his grandfather and grandmother, they have cultivated their own lands for a lifetime.

DE LA CUENCA LA COSTA “Farming has always been part Aof my life since I was little, growing maize with my grandfather, growing beans,and watermelons; so far, we have always been cultivating. Thank God, we have done quite well, so there we are, always farming.

Things go well because if we plant maize, we get a very good yield, same is for watermelons. We sort of do well with watermelons because when the price is good we make a good sale, and we get back the good little money we invested, so we are able to make some profit.”

Several months ago, René joined the field school in Chicaguito, an environmental friendly production learning space promoted by the organization Funsalprodeseco, an executing partner for the Improved Coastal Watershed and Livelihoods Project, where members of the communities are able to put ecological methods into practice using demonstrative parcels to learn techniques that benefit the environment and improve their productivity. Over different working sessions, trainees start learning skills, including correct ways to use soil, techniques to avoid erosion and overuse, improvement of productivity, use of good agricultural practices, and other measures related to decreasing the use of chemicals on crops. There are currently 37 people in two field schools located at Chicaguito in San Alejo, and Ojos de Agua in Concepción de Oriente. René has been one of the trainees applying all his learning in his own lands, and improving the way to manage his crops and wisely using all the resources around him. And though he has had challenges, which have even made him think about leaving his country, he has found support in Funsalprodese and the project to continue working.

“About two years ago I tried to travel to the States, looking for the American dream, to see if my family’s economy could change a little; but it is a harsh trip to be done, so we decided to stay farming here.

Last year I had a problem with the greenhouse tarp; I had the greenhouse, but I did not have the original tarp. Anyway, I grew chili peppers, but by this season (October), the greenhouse fell apart, half of the plants got dry, 250 plants dried out; I probably sew the tarp at least 5 times, we struggled with that, but we made our way out, and even when I recovered the money I had invested, it was not that big of a profit; last year, things went bad. But now that I got a donated tarp, things are different. It’s necessary to work hard, not many plants fit inside, but the production I get, I mean, we’re talking about 25 sacs every 8 days when the plant is going through good production; and the squash orchard, we have been cultivating 7 pails of squash, 2 of beans, 2 of small pumpkins; so a family may sustain quite well with that. I also received help to get a fish tank and we are cultivating fresh water tilapia, an organic watermelon orchard, and things went well growing it; we have done well in everything that has to do with the project. They are helping me and we are making very good improvements, and we are also making our part of the effort as a family.”

René´s parcel is now an example for the community because it promotes productive diversification (with 3 different crops: squash, small pumpkin and beans), making better use of soil, providing options for livelihoods –should one of the crops failed–, and promoting the use of organic repellents that do not affect the environment.

In addition to René’s insertion to the education process in the field schools, he also received a donation of a tarp for the green house to replace the one he had lost as a result of bad weather, and he received help to build a fish tank to breed tilapia, where he’s learning appropriate growth and feeding techniques. Waste water from the tanks is used to irrigate the crops, enhancing efficient use of rain water. Thinking about the future and based on possible climate changes and the possibility of tough rainy seasons like the one he went through last year, he has decided to try creating a wind barrier with bamboo, which besides protecting his harvest, will help him fix organic matter in the soil that is otherwise washed away by the rain. This will also improve water filtration capabilities, because of the bamboo root system, and it will permanently provide wood to be used in their wooden structures and constructions, while avoiding deforestation of native trees in the area.

“What I used to do before was to toss chemicals on the crops. I used strong venoms, and I used to harvest and send the produce to the market in the afternoon or the morning after. It seems to be good for us because we are able to send our produce out for sale, but one is harming people, damaging them with so many chemicals in the produce. The way we are doing it now, though, using organic mixtures, makes me feel we are doing something very well.

The product is the same, but you feel more confident to eat it; one feels it is not going to harm you that much.”

According to data René has collected himself, now that he has moved away from using chemicals, organic repellents have been a success because of their contribution to the environment and his economic investment. In the past, he used to apply a gallon and a half of pure chemicals on a 3 month harvest, representing an expense of 155 dollars. Now, using sulpho-calcium (a natural repellent made of sulphur, lime, and water), even when he needs to use 3 gallons and a half for the harvest, he only spends about 10 dollars, which reduces his expenditures by 80%. Even his wife has now joined the business, and she’s in charge of selling the products in downtown La Unión, which has made them decrease their costs of having middlemen buy their produce; the product of their parcel goes directly to the market now. In addition, this natural repellent helps preserve ecological balance of populations since it does not kill insects; it only drives them off, while it doesn’t repel beneficial insects, such as bees.

So it is not only the productive part which has improved for René, but its relationship with the environment and biodiversity that surrounds him, which is much better; and so it is his knowledge on the risks of pesticides for humans. He also shares his knowledge with the people around him and, thus, he becomes a multiplicative agent among other young farmers.

“I was cleaning the small pumpkin orchard with a fellow, and he asked me: “What do you keep those sick plants for?” (I had about 500 holes and around 60 sick plants). So I told him: “Let’s leave them there because we’re going to try a preparation they just taught me how to make and we´ll see how it works. I applied it and I went back a few days later with this guy, who had told me to draw out the plants. He was surprised! So he told me: “Do you have any more of that?” And I answered I did, but it was still raw, we needed to cook it before we could apply it. We kept on observing and we saw things were improving.

Several guys here in Guacamayera have seen me tossing the organic fertilizer on the plants; quite a few of them are doing the same and they are now farming using organic products; everything is good.

After Funsal taught me, I have taught around 15 young men how to make the preparations, and how to make foliar products, and if they continued applying them, if everyone growing vegetables did the same, everything we harvested would be organic and it would be better for us and for the planet. We must do it wholeheartedly!”

Photos: Ramiro Vásquez / FUNSALPRODESE Carlos Palma y Wanda Villeda / UICN