Lover of the Least , Vol 6
by Keith Johnson
A Wholistic Approach to Defeating Hunger
Dear Friends:
Our trip to ITEC was “over the top” successful with a 6 hour visit. We met 25 people in various specialty areas including eye care, dental care, drones and wings, mechanical design and repair, training, media and farming. The tour of the facilities was awesome and we were very impressed with the dedication and commitment from the ITEC servants.
Our main purpose was to understand Rice Production Principles and especially the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). ITEC is experimenting with rice production using SRI methods and has 3 plots as seen in the video below. Dave Hynes, Director of Farm Training, gave the tour which included rice plots, composting and weed control and herb and vegetable garden. Focus is on weed control through composting. This is a major issue on our farms in Burma.
Tomorrow, I visit Echo: Hope against Hunger, in Ft Meyers, Florida, to better understand SRI. I will be talking to David Strong who has extensive rice farming experience in Cambodia and Burma. Next newsletter will include notes and video on my visit with David.
The video below describes the early transplanting of seedlings at the 2 leaf stage with a 10 inch by 10 inch spacing. We will experiment with this approach in Burma.