Cotton innovation platform

Also known as the Cotton Development Partnership (CDT)

The Cotton Development Partnership has prioritized finding innovative ways demonstrating to farmers the impact of using new high yielding, disease resistant varieties of cotton bred by NARS and also new techniques to boost production.

The platforms identified the following challenges:

Resources

• Cost of the demonstration plots
• Some selected farmers failed to contribute inputs

People

• Low participation of government extension staff
• Most implementing staff did not have agricultural background

Planning and logistics

• Long distances to travel to conduct the demonstrations and limited supervision of demo plots
• Late commencement of implementing the demonstration activities, late planting
• Poor plot layout by members of staff and mix up of technologies
• Use of other inputs apart from those stated
• Failure by institutions to provide the technologies demanded by farmers such as herbicides
• Adoption of the technologies is still low
• Field days were sometimes not well planned

Commitment

• Companies seemed to have other priorities besides the demonstration plots
• Conflicting extension messages between MoA and the companies

The platform has prioritised conducting demonstration plots in cotton growing areas in Malawi to expose farmers to the recommended practices such as released varieties, plant spacing and pesticide control strategies.

Other issues that the CDT will work on include:

• developing a sustainable seed supply system.
• developing a sustainable cotton pricing system.

Progress
By March 2010, stakeholder and government consultations were completed paving the way to establish 420 demonstrate plots. These are in the key cotton growing areas across Malawi. The required inputs, such as seed and chemicals, have been distributed to all the demonstration sites. Some stakeholders from the private sector contributed resources for the demonstrations including seeds and pesticides. Each farmer managing a demonstration plot will work with 5 other surrounding farmers, leading to a total of 2100 farmers directly exposed to demonstration practices.

A manual for the demonstration plots had been produced. There has also been coordinated efforts in the production of demonstration protocols and sensitization of ADD staff as well as training of farmers who are participating in the demonstrations. Training of all farmers and extension staff participating in the cotton demonstrations has been conducted.

420 cotton demonstration plots, each measuring 0.4ha (1 acre) will be subdivided into 4 parts of 0.1ha each depicting four different management levels:

• farmers' practice: rows 60 cm apart, 3 seed per station, hand weeded
• rows 45 cm apart, thinned to 2 plants per station, hand weeded
• rows 45 cm apart, 2 plants per station, herbicides used
• rows 45 cm apart, 2 plants per station, herbicides and foliar feeds used

This represents three key issues to be demonstrated:

• planting pattern (2 plants per station, 40cm between planting stations)
• weed management (hand weeding and herbicides)
• nutrients (foliar feed)

On average there shall be 10 demonstartion plots in each EPA. Key cotton growing areas were agreed as Karonga, Nkhotakota, Salima, Balaka, Bwanje Valley (Ntcheu and Dedza), Mangochi, Machinga, Mwanza/Neno/Lisungu, Chikwawa and , Nsanje.

Lead institutions will be appointed in each area (district) to coordinate the demonstrations with regard to:

• site and farmer selection
• plot layout
• input distribution
• planting
• organizing field days
• selecting of farmers to host cotton demonstration plots.

The platform has also developed strategies for cotton seed systems and cotton farmer organizations empowerment.

The Cotton Development Partnership has formed a Policy & Regulation Working Group to lobby government to hasten the process of review of the Cotton Act and establishment of a Cotton Council. In the same vein, it is supporting the establishment of the Cotton Farmers Association to project farmers' views and needs to government on issues such as cotton pricing, inputs supply and extension delivery services.

Three field days will be organized within the season at the demonstration sites targeting various stakeholders at all levels. Through this approach, it is expected that over 42000 farmers will be exposed to recommended cotton production practices within the 2009/2010 production season. The demonstration plots will be the focal points for extension activities through field days.

This activity is planned to be complemented with an enhanced extension drive revolving around the demonstration plots and conducted through a multi-sectoral collaboration between the public extension sector with private sector partners in the form of input suppliers, ginners and farmer organizations.

During the exploration phase the following challenges were identified.

Resources

• Cost of the demonstration plots
• Some selected farmers failed to contribute inputs

People

• Low participation of government extension staff
• Most implementing staff did not have agricultural background

Planning and logistics

• Long distances to travel to conduct the demonstrations and limited supervision of demo plots
• Late commencement of implementing the demonstration activities, late planting
• Poor plot layout by members of staff and mix up of technologies
• Use of other inputs apart from those stated
• Failure by institutions to provide the technologies demanded by farmers such as herbicides
• Adoption of the technologies is still low
• Field days were sometimes not well planned

Commitment

• Companies seemed to have other priorities besides the demonstration plots
• Conflicting extension messages between MoA and the companies

The platform plans to link to the governments' Green belt initiative; where possible setting up demonstration plots along the government designated green belt area.

The platform is looking at how it can secure full support of the Ministry of Agriculture extension staff on the ground.

RNRSS outputs being reviewed

• Participatory learning has something for everyone through demonstrations and field days
  A participatory learning process - involving surveys, workshops and trade fairs - has helped to expand farmer information supply in the southern highlands of Tanzania. Location-specific tools - such as Swahili language leaflets on maize management - and increased access to information, training and products has helped to improve the capacity, effectiveness and morale of public and private sector organizations. Farmers from 18 villages benefited directly, improving their capacity to manage their maize cropping systems. In addition, stockists, researchers, extensionists, seed companies and NGOs all perceived benefits from the participatory learning process and its positive influence on their ability to do their job effectively. (CPH46)

Early lessons from the cotton platform (2008/09)

• Yield
  Some farmers had been able to increase their yields from less than 1000 kg/ha up to 1800 kg/ ha by following and using the technologies and practices from the demonstration plots including use of foliar fertilizers, early planting and increased plant population