Goat enclosure.
Rooftop garden utilizing soda cans wrapped in socks.
Drip irrigation system.
I had the pleasure of visiting ECHO’s Global Village this week in North Fort Myers, FL. ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization and they are dedicated to fighting world hunger. They do this by conducting research on innovative farming techniques for various climate zones, providing non-evasive seeds that can greatly aid farmers in a particular climate zone, and by providing agricultural training to college graduates (who train with them for a period of one year as interns) and missionaries.
One of the primary ways that ECHO achieves its research is through the “Global Village” farm they have created. This is an area comprised of six climate systems where their interns get hands-on experience learning about sustainable agriculture and receive training they will later take to the field.
The six climate systems in the Global Village are composed of: Semi-Arid Tropics, Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Highlands, Tropical Monsoon, Hot Humid Lowlands and Urban Gardening. The Global Village includes techniques on farming, irrigation and animal husbandry that can greatly improve the productivity of peasant farmers around the world.
ECHO’s Global Village uses “organic agriculture,” which means they only use manure, compost, organically approved pesticides, and crop rotation. At the Global Farm they produce their own manure for fertilizers from animals they have on-site. From the Vetiver Grass, they produce their own mulch and this plant also serves as a wind break and serves as a fence to block the garden from the sight of animals. Certain insects, such as ladybugs, can also be utilized to keep evasive insects away from the crops.
My tour of the Global Village was given by intern, Laura Catherine Conville from Alabama. She is specializing in the Tropical Monsoon climate. She has already helped various farmers in many South and Central American countries, such as Bolivia and Columbia and is at ECHO for further training.
We started our tour learning about how tilapia and ducks have a wonderful mutualistic relationship. This can be a wonderful source of protein for peasant farmers in warm tropical climates. Tilapias thrive in warm tropical ponds and can survive in water with low oxygen levels. They feed on algae that grow on the surface of the water which thrives on account of duck droppings. The ducks love having the pond and are better suited for life in the tropics. They have fewer diseases than chickens and their eggs taste similar to chicken eggs. This is a wonderful sustainable source of protein.
In the “Hot Humid Lowlands” climate zone I heard about a very interesting discovery they had made on increasing the yield of rice production called System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Rather than planting the rice close together, they were planting it further apart and intercropping it with another plant. Intercropping had two benefits: it prevented having to weed the field and by planting a crop, such as a legume, and you also provide the soil with much needed nitrogen. In this case they had planted rice bean, increased the production of rice by 10%, obtained an additional crop, and gave nutrients back to the soil.
The “Tropical Highlands” climate zone can be some of the leading areas of malnutrition due to the high levels of soil erosion. All the nutrient-rich soil washes down to the bottom of the valley every time it rains and growing crops becomes very difficult. The answer to preserving the soil is terracing which is extremely labor intensive. ECHO has come up with a technique called Sloping Agriculture Land Technology (SALT). The idea here is to plant perennial trees with deep root systems, in rows every 5 to 15 meters, depending on the slope. Then you weave in between them twigs and bark and this will catch the soil and prevent soil erosion. The only problem with this method is it is not immediate and it takes time for perennial trees to grow and establish this barrier.
I was very impressed with the research on animal husbandry. Animals can be a sustainable and valuable resource for a peasant farmer. Rabbits are unique in that their manure can be applied directly to plants. Additionally, they consume many greens which humans do not eat so they are not in competition for food with the humans. They do not take up much space and if they are too plentiful they can provide the family with a protein-rich meal.
At ECHO they also had a special breed to chicken called turkens. Turkens have 60% fewer feathers on their bodies and are better suited for warm weather. Their bodies are tropically inclined and they require less protein. In the Tropical Monsoon climate area, the turkens are very helpful. After the crop is harvested, the turkens eat the insects, weed seeds and seedlings. They also aid in incorporating air into the soil by tilling the soil with their feet and they add fertilizer to the soil with their droppings.
Another animal that can be helpful for a peasant farmer is a goat, as long as it is contained. ECHO has devised containment ideas for goats where the goat can be fed with greens that humans do not consume but that the goat will eat, and where they can collect the goats manure for use as fertilizer. Goats are well suited for semi-arid tropics and can do well in very warm climates. The goat can also provide milk for the family.
The irrigation techniques at the Global Village were all very impressive. I saw examples of a dug well and two methods of retrieving the water. I also saw the Chapin bucket drip system, which is good for the Semi-Arid Tropics climate zone. Rather than hauling bucket after bucket of water from a well, you only have to fill a bucket twice a day. This bucket has small hoses at the bottom that can irrigate 100 feet of bedding with minimal evaporation.
Research into seed technology at ECHO has produced plants with a longer growing season. This can provide a farmer income for a longer period of time and more food to feed their family as well.
One of the most impressive plants I learned about is the Moringa. I am amazed more people do not know about this amazing tree. It would not surprise me if it turns out to be the cure for cancer. If you dry the leaves in the shade (drying in the sun results in a 40% loss of nutrients) you can ground it into a powder that if fed to a malnourished child will bring him/her back to stable health. It will also help malnourished women who are having problems lactating produce milk. Moringa leaves contain seven times the vitamin C in oranges, four times the amount of calcium in milk, four times the vitamin A in carrots, three times the potassium in bananas, three times the iron on spinach and two times the protein of milk. In addition, if you take one ground seed and put it into a liter of contaminated water and let it sit four to twelve hours, it will pull all the solids to the bottom and kill 90% to 99% of the bacteria in the water. The funny thing is the Moringa only grows in poor soil and with little water. It is truly a miracle tree.
The Urban Gardening section had an impressive area showing a rooftop garden. It had examples of things one could find and recycle to use as containers in a rooftop garden, such as wading pools, old tires and shallow basins. Rather than hauling heavy bags of soil to a rooftop you can use soda cans wrapped in old socks, pine cones or old newspapers. One planting bed consisted of carpeting with pinecones on top. You can make compost with your kitchen scraps as long as you leave the meat and dairy out and then just throw some mulch on top. These are all lightweight items that are good for rooftop gardening.
The rooftop garden gave me an idea on how I could grow some of my own vegetables and spices. I live in an apartment but I have a very large terrace that gets the morning sun. The planting techniques I saw could be easily duplicated on my terrace. I also like the concept of using the soda cans and old socks. I save old socks as rags and now they will have a new purpose. I have not made compose since I lived in Seattle, WA and had an actual garden but I might have a reason to do so again and thereby reduce the amount of garbage I dispose of. This would be a sustainable activity by supplying my family with food, reducing our garbage output and recycling soda cans, socks and newspapers to create a planting bed, not to mention make use of the piece of carpet rolled up in the storage room that will be the base of the garden plot.
One of the primary ways that ECHO achieves its research is through the “Global Village” farm they have created. This is an area comprised of six climate systems where their interns get hands-on experience learning about sustainable agriculture and receive training they will later take to the field.
The six climate systems in the Global Village are composed of: Semi-Arid Tropics, Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Highlands, Tropical Monsoon, Hot Humid Lowlands and Urban Gardening. The Global Village includes techniques on farming, irrigation and animal husbandry that can greatly improve the productivity of peasant farmers around the world.
ECHO’s Global Village uses “organic agriculture,” which means they only use manure, compost, organically approved pesticides, and crop rotation. At the Global Farm they produce their own manure for fertilizers from animals they have on-site. From the Vetiver Grass, they produce their own mulch and this plant also serves as a wind break and serves as a fence to block the garden from the sight of animals. Certain insects, such as ladybugs, can also be utilized to keep evasive insects away from the crops.
My tour of the Global Village was given by intern, Laura Catherine Conville from Alabama. She is specializing in the Tropical Monsoon climate. She has already helped various farmers in many South and Central American countries, such as Bolivia and Columbia and is at ECHO for further training.
We started our tour learning about how tilapia and ducks have a wonderful mutualistic relationship. This can be a wonderful source of protein for peasant farmers in warm tropical climates. Tilapias thrive in warm tropical ponds and can survive in water with low oxygen levels. They feed on algae that grow on the surface of the water which thrives on account of duck droppings. The ducks love having the pond and are better suited for life in the tropics. They have fewer diseases than chickens and their eggs taste similar to chicken eggs. This is a wonderful sustainable source of protein.
In the “Hot Humid Lowlands” climate zone I heard about a very interesting discovery they had made on increasing the yield of rice production called System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Rather than planting the rice close together, they were planting it further apart and intercropping it with another plant. Intercropping had two benefits: it prevented having to weed the field and by planting a crop, such as a legume, and you also provide the soil with much needed nitrogen. In this case they had planted rice bean, increased the production of rice by 10%, obtained an additional crop, and gave nutrients back to the soil.
The “Tropical Highlands” climate zone can be some of the leading areas of malnutrition due to the high levels of soil erosion. All the nutrient-rich soil washes down to the bottom of the valley every time it rains and growing crops becomes very difficult. The answer to preserving the soil is terracing which is extremely labor intensive. ECHO has come up with a technique called Sloping Agriculture Land Technology (SALT). The idea here is to plant perennial trees with deep root systems, in rows every 5 to 15 meters, depending on the slope. Then you weave in between them twigs and bark and this will catch the soil and prevent soil erosion. The only problem with this method is it is not immediate and it takes time for perennial trees to grow and establish this barrier.
I was very impressed with the research on animal husbandry. Animals can be a sustainable and valuable resource for a peasant farmer. Rabbits are unique in that their manure can be applied directly to plants. Additionally, they consume many greens which humans do not eat so they are not in competition for food with the humans. They do not take up much space and if they are too plentiful they can provide the family with a protein-rich meal.
At ECHO they also had a special breed to chicken called turkens. Turkens have 60% fewer feathers on their bodies and are better suited for warm weather. Their bodies are tropically inclined and they require less protein. In the Tropical Monsoon climate area, the turkens are very helpful. After the crop is harvested, the turkens eat the insects, weed seeds and seedlings. They also aid in incorporating air into the soil by tilling the soil with their feet and they add fertilizer to the soil with their droppings.
Another animal that can be helpful for a peasant farmer is a goat, as long as it is contained. ECHO has devised containment ideas for goats where the goat can be fed with greens that humans do not consume but that the goat will eat, and where they can collect the goats manure for use as fertilizer. Goats are well suited for semi-arid tropics and can do well in very warm climates. The goat can also provide milk for the family.
The irrigation techniques at the Global Village were all very impressive. I saw examples of a dug well and two methods of retrieving the water. I also saw the Chapin bucket drip system, which is good for the Semi-Arid Tropics climate zone. Rather than hauling bucket after bucket of water from a well, you only have to fill a bucket twice a day. This bucket has small hoses at the bottom that can irrigate 100 feet of bedding with minimal evaporation.
Research into seed technology at ECHO has produced plants with a longer growing season. This can provide a farmer income for a longer period of time and more food to feed their family as well.
One of the most impressive plants I learned about is the Moringa. I am amazed more people do not know about this amazing tree. It would not surprise me if it turns out to be the cure for cancer. If you dry the leaves in the shade (drying in the sun results in a 40% loss of nutrients) you can ground it into a powder that if fed to a malnourished child will bring him/her back to stable health. It will also help malnourished women who are having problems lactating produce milk. Moringa leaves contain seven times the vitamin C in oranges, four times the amount of calcium in milk, four times the vitamin A in carrots, three times the potassium in bananas, three times the iron on spinach and two times the protein of milk. In addition, if you take one ground seed and put it into a liter of contaminated water and let it sit four to twelve hours, it will pull all the solids to the bottom and kill 90% to 99% of the bacteria in the water. The funny thing is the Moringa only grows in poor soil and with little water. It is truly a miracle tree.
The Urban Gardening section had an impressive area showing a rooftop garden. It had examples of things one could find and recycle to use as containers in a rooftop garden, such as wading pools, old tires and shallow basins. Rather than hauling heavy bags of soil to a rooftop you can use soda cans wrapped in old socks, pine cones or old newspapers. One planting bed consisted of carpeting with pinecones on top. You can make compost with your kitchen scraps as long as you leave the meat and dairy out and then just throw some mulch on top. These are all lightweight items that are good for rooftop gardening.
The rooftop garden gave me an idea on how I could grow some of my own vegetables and spices. I live in an apartment but I have a very large terrace that gets the morning sun. The planting techniques I saw could be easily duplicated on my terrace. I also like the concept of using the soda cans and old socks. I save old socks as rags and now they will have a new purpose. I have not made compose since I lived in Seattle, WA and had an actual garden but I might have a reason to do so again and thereby reduce the amount of garbage I dispose of. This would be a sustainable activity by supplying my family with food, reducing our garbage output and recycling soda cans, socks and newspapers to create a planting bed, not to mention make use of the piece of carpet rolled up in the storage room that will be the base of the garden plot.
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