Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/02/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Wendy, Some very tough rows to hoe indeed. I would love to go back into that part of the world to take photos and to wander around a bit so I do wish you and Hugh and your colleagues lots of success. A generation is far too short of a time span to change a culture so radically. Regards, Spencer On Feb 7, 2010, at 9:32, Wendy Thurman wrote: > I'm not an agricultural expert but it's my understanding the corn is for > feed. Fertilizer is a commodity that we are introducing; traditional > Afghan > fertilizer has consisted largely of human waste. Water itself isn't a > problem- it's the movement of water that is problematic. The farming > experts I've spoken with tell me that the soil is very fertile if water can > be routed to it. We've been able to demonstrate that row cultivation along > with judicious use of fertilizer can markedly increase production. Other > techniques are demonstrated on the farm- trellising for grapes yields many > more kilos per hectare than simply letting the grapes go wild, for example- > that are proven to increase yield and the local growers are very interested > in these techniques. > > The issue that confronts us is more complex than simply growing things- we > look at value-chain management, infrastructure development, and other such > components of a successful agrarian economy. While our immediate, US > Government-mandated objective is to decrease poppy cultivation, this is an > involved process that requires a long-term educational effort. That effort > is further challenged by the facts that we are dealing with a functionally > illiterate population heavily influenced by the Taliban. Tough row to hoe, > pun intended.