Vicente Gerardo, Bobonaro
August 2009
Vicente Gerardo lives in the hills
just above the town of
Bobonaro in the west of East Timor, close to the Indonesian border.
Vicente
leads a group of 19 farmers who are working with Care International to
increase
their food security.
The group of nine women and ten men,
representing 12
farming households, was originally formed through the church that they
attended. When Care International became involved with the farmers the
group
was on the verge of disbanding. However the support that Care has
provided
through making Seeds of Life maize and peanut varieties and seed
storage
available has helped reinvigorate the group, and the farmers have seen
big
increases in their crop yields in the past season.
Care gave the group 19kg of Sele
seed, a high-yielding maize
variety which was extensively trialled by Seeds of Life before its
release in
East Timor in March 2007. Care also gave the group recycled 44 gallon
(200
litre) oil drums for storing their seeds, helping to minimise losses
from rats
and weevils.
From the first planting on one
hectare of land in the 2008 wet
season, the group harvested 2.5 drums of maize seed, approximately
500kg. The
farmers threshed the grain, saving the grain from the middle of the cob
for
seed and using the grain from the ends of the cob for food. This
yielded one
drum of seed for planting next season, while the remaining seed has
been
divided between the group members to be used for food.
Vicente is delighted with the yield
they have received from
Sele. Comparing the size of the Sele cobs to those of the local variety
which
he is still growing, he points out that one cob of Sele is equal to two
cobs of
the local variety.
In addition to receiving Sele seed,
the group has also
received Utamua, a Seeds of Life peanut variety highly valued by
farmers for
its large size. The 9kg of Utamua seed that the group received yielded
1.5
drums of peanuts, while 22kg of the local peanut variety produced the
same
yield.
The farmers have already seen a
significant increase in
their food stores in the first year of working with Care and planting
the Seeds
of Life varieties. However, the results this year are only the first
step to
achieving food security. Vicente explains that one drum of maize would
feed his
family of ten for two months if it was the only food staple that they
had to
rely on. They have been able to make their maize last longer because
they
combine maize with other food they grow on their farm, however they are
still
likely to run out of maize in September this year. Vicente plans to
seek work
as a tradesman from the priests in the local church, and use this
income to
provide food for his family until the next harvest in March next year.
Next year they will have a much
larger quantity of seed to
plant, and the farmers should see a corresponding increase in the
amount of
maize they will be able to use to feed their families. In addition to
the
staple food crops of maize and peanuts, Care is also helping the farmer
group
to improve their vegetable cultivation. The combination of these
activities
should allow the farmers to grow enough food to feed their families in
the near
future. |
Vicente Gerardo (L) at his farm in Bobonaro
Drums for maize storage |
Jose Pereira, Liquica
July 2009
Jose
Pereira’s home sits on a steep slope above the town of Liquiça, 35
kilometres west of Dili. Jose, 49, has lived in the village of
Hatuquesi his whole life, and has farmed this land ever since he was
married 25 years ago. He rotates planting maize on three areas of land,
one adjacent to his home, one down the hill close to the dry river bed
that leads back to Liquiça, and one further up into the hills.
He
and his wife, Recardinha, have six children between the ages of 11 and
23. Ensuring his children receive a good education is a priority for
him. Two of his children study in Dili, two children study in the town
of Liquiça, and two study in Hatuquesi. “I want my children to be able
to continue to university or to study in other countries,” he said,
“but finding money to continue their education is a big challenge.”
Jose
is an organizer for the Hatulemo Group, made up of 15 farmers who work
together to grow several Seeds of Life varieties, including Sele and
Suwan-5 maize, Hohrae 1 & 3 sweet potatoes, and Utamua (PT-5)
and
PT-15 peanuts. The group is named after the uma lulik (sacred house) in
the village, where the local language is Tokodede. Jose works closely
with the xefi suco (village head) to organize the farmers, who share
seeds and labour in order to maximise their returns.
The
farmers were originally part of a larger farming group, made up of 30
members. This group started working with Seeds of Life in 2005, when
research assistant Marcal Guterres first visited the suco of Hatuquesi.
When Marcal described the new, high-yielding varieties that Seeds of
Life were testing, the farmers’ interest was sparked and they were keen
to be involved. After the success of the first on-farm demonstration
trial (OFDT) planting in 2005 they expanded the area that they planted
the new varieties on each year.
Last year the farmers
decided to split into two groups, each with 15 members. Jose’s group
wanted each member to be able to individually store their seeds for
replanting, while the other group wished to store their seeds
centrally. This year each member of the Hatulemo group received 10
bundles of maize, each bundle made up of approximately 20 cobs, for
replanting.
Jose has now planted the new
varieties four times on his land. His staple food crop is maize, and he
grows Sele and Suwan 5 alongside some local maize varieties. He is
enthusiastic about the Seeds of Life varieties, which he likes for
their high yield, the good price that they fetch in the market, and
because they taste good even when they have been stored for a long
time. However he continues to plant a local maize variety as he is concerned about
weevils. “If you don’t pay attention, weevils can destroy the maize” he
said. He hangs his cobs in bundles above the cooking fire in his
family’s kitchen, where the smoke helps to keep pests away. He also
stores maize kernels in old rice sacks, where they are more susceptible
to pests.
After he stores some seed for planting in
the next season, Jose uses the maize to feed his family, sell in the
market in Liquiça, and share seed with other farmers. Sometimes they
boil the maize and eat it straight from the cob, sometimes they pound
the corn and then boil the cornmeal, and sometimes they use a stone to
make the kernels small like rice, and then cook it together with
peanuts, pumpkin leaves and rice.
Jose has shared
seeds with neighbours in Hatuquesi, and also with five farmers in the
village of Guico, in the sub-district of Maubara, in the western part
of Liquiça district. Those farmers have now shared seeds with a further
five farmers in their village, so there are now ten additional farmers
planting Seeds of Life maize varieties in Guico.
In
the past two years Jose has earned a total of US$42 from selling sacks
of maize and peanuts at the market in Liquiça Vila. This includes US$18
from peanuts and US$24 from maize. He says this is more money than he
would have received from growing local varieties. “I’m happy because I
used this money to pay my children’s school fees” he said.
In
fact he is so happy with the high yields from the Seeds of Life peanut
varieties that he has stopped growing any local peanut varieties, and
focuses exclusively on growing Utamua and PT-15. In a plot adjacent to
his house he also grows the Seeds of Life sweet potato varieties Hohrae
1 and 3, which his family harvests as required for their own
consumption.
In addition to maize, peanuts and sweet
potato Jose grows small amounts of other fruits and vegetables to feed
his family and sell for extra income, including beans, cassava, taro,
yam, pumpkin, papaya, banana, lime, coconut, pineapple and guava. He
also raises pigs and chickens, which he sells to buy additional food
for his family if they run out of their own food stores.
|
Jose Pereira (L) with Seeds of Life Research Assistant Luis Pereira (R) and family members
|
Juliao
Ximenes, Baucau
May 2009
Juliao
Ximemes lives with his wife and five of his children in Tequinomata, a
village in the coastal lowlands of the Laga sub-district of Baucau.
Laga is one of East Timor’s key rice-growing sub-districts, with two
thirds of households involved in rice production. His home is located
close to his rice fields where he grows Nakroma, a high-yielding rice
variety tested and distributed by Seeds of Life. The income that he
receives from selling Nakroma is helping him to support his children
through school and university.
Juliao has been involved with
the Seeds of Life program since 2006 when he planted Nakroma for the
first time in an on-farm demonstration trial (OFDT) plot size of 25m².
He replanted Nakroma in the following two seasons, expanding the area
of Nakroma to one hectare.
He continues to plant a local
rice variety in addition to Nakroma. He says this is because the local
variety has been traditionally planted since the time of his ancestors
and he is accustomed to selling it. However this season he has grown
the local variety to store for his own family’s consumption, and is
selling Nakroma instead.
The yield from his most recent
Nakroma harvest was 1,140 kg, measured as 95 kerosene tins weighing
12kg each. This does not include rice that he shared with three
neighbours who had some of their local rice stores destroyed by pests.
From
this yield he sold 24 kerosene tins of Nakroma (288kg), at US$5.00 per
tin, earning US$120.00 in total. He has used the money to support the
daily needs of his household, including education costs for his
children. This includes one son studying at the Universidade Nacional
de Timor-Leste (UNTL) in Dili, a daughter in senior high school in the
town of Baucau, and two daughters in junior high school.
Juliao
said that he prefers Nakroma because it can be eaten by itself if
vegetables are not available. He said that Nakroma has many more
tillers than the local variety and rated Nakroma as higher yielding,
but this depends on how closely the local variety was monitored for
weeds. He also rated Nakroma as more resistant to pests during the dry
season.
In terms of taste, he described Nakroma as
fragrant, oily and good for making porridge, but added that the local
variety was more fragrant. Juliao said that there is significant demand
for Nakroma in the local market when it is available, and at US$5.00
per kerosene tin Nakroma sells for significantly more than the local
variety at US$3.00 per kerosene tin.
“In the next season if
Nakroma yields more than the local variety I will stop planting the
local variety and continue with Nakroma,” Juliao said. He added that in
his village Nakroma can be used in ritual ceremonies, unlike some other
villages where farmers continue to grow local rice varieties
specifically to use in traditional ceremonies. |
Socio-economic Research Advisor Angie Bexley interviews Juliao Ximenes
Juliao's farm, in the Laga sub-district of Baucau |
Veneranda Alves Mendonca, Aileu
April 2009
Veneranda
Alves Mendonca lives in the village of Liurai, in the Aileu
sub-district of Aileu. She is divorced from her husband, and lives with
her four children. She works hard to provide for her family through
farming, and also runs a kiosk selling drinks and snacks on the main
road between Aileu and Maubisse.
Veneranda has been involved
with Seeds of Life (SoL) since 2007, and has now planted the
high-yielding, SoL-distributed Sele maize variety three times. After
her first on-farm demonstration trial (OFDT) planting of 25m² she
expanded her Sele plot to 364m² (26m x 14m).
She said that
her children love the delicious, fragrant flavour of Sele, and ate most
of the Sele from this plot as fresh maize. As a result she was only
able to harvest 10kg to store for seed. She stores this corn in her
kitchen, to plant in the next season. She has not shared seeds with
other farmers because her own stock of seeds is very limited.
Veneranda
is still planting the local maize variety in order to secure food for
her family, but she said “in the future if Sele is available and I get
a high yield, I will choose to plant Sele over the local variety”. She
prefers Sele for its large cobs and its flavour, which is sweeter than
the local varieties.
She has not yet sold Sele, as the most important thing for her is to
first secure food for her children. |
Veneranda Alves Mendonca |
Francisca
Madalena Pinto, Bobonaro
March 2009
“Oh...
Sele...Today you make all farmers happy, you give us contentment”
recited Francisca Madelena Pinto.
Her
poetry presentation in honour of Sele, a high yield yellow maize
variety, was a highlight of a recent field day organised by a group of
women farmers in the Maliana sub-district of Bobonaro.
The
field day took place on 17 March 2009 during harvest time in the
village of Ritabou, located near the town of Maliana, in the far west
of the country close to the border with Indonesia. More than 150
farmers and local authority representatives attended the event.
Isabel
Fatima leads the group of 15 women. After the group was formed they
made an agreement to work with Dorilanda da Costa Lopes, Seeds of
Life’s (SoL) Seed Production Officer in Bobonaro District, to plant
Sele. Isabel Fatima then organised the farmers to plant the high yield
seeds in seven hectares of farmland.
Group member Francisca
Madalena Pinto said that although this was only the first time that
they had planted Sele they were impressed by its large cobs and good
colour. The group is hopeful that Sele will be resistant to rot and
pests, and that it will produce a high yield and good flavour.
They
intend to use the money they will receive when all of the corn is
harvested to invest in planning for the group’s future. Moreover, they
will produce more seeds in the future to distribute to other farmers
who are not yet involved in the SoL program.
The field day
was a great opportunity for other local farmers to learn about Sele and
the Seeds of Life program. A representative of the National Director of
Agriculture and Horticulture; Rob Williams, the SoL Australian Team
Leader; the Maliana Sub-District Administrator, and SoL Seed Production
Staff from other districts also attended the event.
Francisca Madalena Pinto’s poem is reproduced below.
Harvest Sele...
Ouh... Sele...
Today you make all
farmers happy, you give us contentment,
Ouh... Sele...
Today you make all of
our leaders come to our village,
Not for other activities
but they come here only wanting to harvest you (Sele),
Ouh... Sele...
Your name is
interesting, your cobs are big, your grain is brilliant,
You make all farmers
fall on you to gain your seeds,
So that Ouh... Sele...
Increase and grow
yourself going on,
Slowly, slowly your
seeds will distribute to all East Timor farmers,
The farmers... please be
happy with Sele seeds because one day Sele seeds will be distributed to
all of us,
Ouh Maumali... please be
happy to receive Sele seeds that grow up and make Maumali become green,
Ouh... Maumali... your
name will be famous in East Timor,
Ouh... Sele... your
seeds all farmers will continue to grow in the future and continue to
grow up,
Thank you for the God in
heaven.
Thank you for our leader,
Thank you for the
farmers,
Thank you for the Seed
Production Officers, and
Thank you for Sele |
Francisca Madalena Pinto
 |