Continuation of the SAF Project (3rd phase)
Less than two months after the previous stage, the Peruvian Amazonian landscapes have been deformed by the torrential rains that have fallen. It is impossible to reach the village by foot as before, you will have to navigate the flooded roads by boat.
On 7 March 2022, the third stage of the agroforestry project began with about twenty inhabitants of the village of Mahuizo and a guest from the village of Nueva Florida. It was with a team of 5 people from Envol Vert that the 6 days of training were given.
It is important to note that 2 new major axes were discussed.
The first is economic alternatives. The aim was to show that there are economic alternatives to cutting wood in particular. Two proposals for processing products from the nursery were presented: the first, a camu-camu jam made with the inhabitants (with the sterilisation of the containers); the second is aguardiente (alcoholic drink) made from sugar cane via a video from a local producer based in Chazuta in the region of San Martin.
The second is citrus grafting (vegetative reproduction method). Grafting consists of implanting the tissues of a plant (e.g. bud), taken from another plant. The aim is for the plant to continue to grow by becoming one with the first plant and to take on its characteristics in order to be stronger, more productive and more durable. The practical part took place in the participants’ plots to encourage them to continue practising and master the technique perfectly!
In parallel, the usual but equally important activities continued. Diagnostics, which are carried out individually with each farmer in anticipation of designs (to choose where to put each plant).
There was also a lot of organisational work in the nursery, in which the children took part and which made it possible to take stock of what had worked well and what had not, in order to identify mistakes and avoid making them again.
Finally, training courses on compost and micro-organisms were held with a group that is always very active.
This is the end of a beautiful project which will be concluded (in beauty) at the end of April… but that will be for a future article…