PengYansen(left)demonstrateshowtoproduceorganicfodderWewanttoreplicatethesuccesswehadinChinahereinS茫oTom茅andPr铆ncipe.TherehavebeenmanysetbacksduringthedevelopmentofgreenlivestockbreedinginChina,andwedon鈥檛wanttorepeatthesamemistakeshere.
PENGYANSENChineseagriculturalexpert
ToyamaraDaVeraCruzisallearswhenPengYansen,herteacher,givesinstructions.Althoughshehasextensiveexperienceinfarmingherself,comingfromalonglineoflivestockbreeders,CruzisnowlearninganewskillfromPeng,aChineseagriculturalexpert,howtoproduceorganicfodder.
鈥淚amveryinterestedinthetechniquethattheChineseagriculturalexpertwantstointroducehere,andIamalreadyusingitonmyfamilyfarm.Ourlivestockisgrowingbestwhenfedwiththismorenutritiousfodder,鈥漵aidCruz,whoworksattheAnimalHusbandryDirectorateofS茫oTom茅andPr铆ncipe.
PengfirstarrivedinS茫oTom茅andPr铆ncipeonMay5,2017,asamemberofamissionofChineseagriculturalexpertsdispatchedtohelpthecountrydevelopitsagricultureforayear.Thisagriculturalcooperationprojectwassetupattheislandcountry鈥檚requestfollowingtheresumptionofitsdiplomaticrelationswithChinaonDecember26,2016.
PengcomesfromRongxianCountyofsouthChina鈥檚GuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegion.In2016,RongxianCountyhasbeenselectedasoneofChina鈥檚firstdemonstrationareasforgreenlivestockfarming,anorganicfarmingmethodcharacterizedbytheuseoforganicfodderandfertilizers.WorkingattheAnimalHusbandry,AquacultureandVeterinaryBureauofRongxianCounty,Pengresearchedthebestmethodstopopularizetheuseofgreenlivestockfarmingthere.
鈥淲ewanttoreplicatethesuccesswehadinChinahereinS茫oTom茅andPr铆ncipe.TherehavebeenmanysetbacksduringthedevelopmentofgreenlivestockbreedinginChina,andwedon鈥檛wanttorepeatthesamemistakeshere,鈥漃engtoldChinAfrica.
Ecosystemprotection
Livestockfarmingiscloselylinkedtoagriculture.Afterhisarrival,Pengrealizedthatthecountryneededtobetterdevelopitsorganicfarming.Indeed,asanarchipelago,S茫oTom茅andPr铆ncipe鈥檚ecosystemisveryfragile.Itis,therefore,impossibletousechemicalfertilizersforagriculture.ThePr铆ncipeIslandhascompletelybannedtheuseofpesticides.鈥淭herefore,ourcooperationonfodderproductionhadtofitlocalneedsandconditions,鈥漞xplainedPeng.Organicfoddercultivation,headded,hadtomakefulluseoflocalresourcessuchastaro,maize,soybeansandfoddergrass.
Farmingdevelopmentcangohandinhandwithenvironmentalprotection.Pengusedthesamemethodsappliedinhishometown.鈥淚tisatypeofnaturalandecologicalbreeding.Foddercropsaregrownwithoutusingpesticidesorchemicalfertilizers.Allfertilizerscomefromfermentedmanure.Ofcourse,thisonlyallowsforlowproduction,butlocalpeopleacceptitbecausetheyareawareoftheimportanceofprotectingtheenvironment,鈥漢esaid.
Moreover,accordingtoPeng,itisnotappropriatetoproducefodderinanindustrializedmanneronalargescaleonthearchipelagicnation.Ontheonehand,localindustryandindustrialchainaretooweak.Ontheotherhand,thetemperatureontheislandsishighandtheclimateishumid,whichhindersconservationoffodder.鈥淭hefodderislikelytorotquickly.Thecostofproductionis,therefore,veryhigh,鈥漢eadded.
Asaresult,achievinglocalproductionoforganicfodderusingtheislands鈥檙ichresourceswasamoreappropriatechoice.Followingthecountry鈥檚independencein1975,relevantexperimentshadalreadybeencarriedout,butalloftheseprojectseventuallyfailed,mostlybecauseofthelackoftechniqueandgovernmentsupport.Theintroductionofnew,locally-adaptedtechniqueswas,therefore,amorepracticalandrealisticpath.
Cruzhasnowmasteredawholeseriesoftechniquesrelatedtogreenlivestockfarming:Shecancultivate,processandconserveorganicfodderaswellasmanufacturenutritionalpackages,inparticularcrab-basedfodder,whicharesonumerousontheislands.Sheisnowabletofullymeettheneedsofherfamilyfarm,whichmeansthatshenolongerhastobuyfodder.Obviouslyhappywiththeresults,shesparesnoefforttoencourageotherfarmerstoadoptthenewtechniques.
ForgegrassesarebeingprocessedbytheChineseexpertandhispartners
PengYansenwithalocalpartnerinarecently-builtgreenhouse
UsingorganicmeanstogrowvegetablesArecognizedprocess
Infact,theintroductionofthesenewtechniquesinaforeigncountrydidnotinitiallygowell.Inspiredbythebeliefthatitisbettertoteachpeoplehowtofishthanonlygivethemfish,Pengencounteredsomeresistanceamongordinaryfarmersaswellaslocalorganizations.Despitetheseissues,hedidnotbackdownbutcarriedonwithhisproject.Withgovernmentsupport,hestartedgivingtrainingcoursestofarmersandcooperatives.Hisfirstbatchof鈥渁pprentices鈥漺entbacktotheircommunitiesandplayedtheroleof鈥渟eeds,鈥漜onvincingandtrainingevenmorefarmers.Healsoheldgreenlivestockdemonstrations,withgoodresults.
鈥淪ocializingwithfarmersinvillageshasbecomecommonpracticeforme.Indifferentregions,Ihavedifferentworkingapproaches.Forinstance,inareaswheretaroisthemaincrop,Iputmoretarosinthefodderingredients,鈥漢esaid.Todate,hehastrainedover200peopleandconductedmorethan50demonstrations.
TheAnimalHusbandryDirectorateofS茫oTom茅andPr铆ncipeisalsoactiveinpopularizinggreenfarmingthroughoutthecountry.Accordingtofiguresreleasedbythedirectorate,thesenewtechniquescouldreducefodderimportsby80percentandincreasethecountry鈥檚annualfodderproductionbyabout50,000tons,20timesmorethanthevolumeimportedeachyear.Livestockfedwithsuchfoddercouldincreasetheircurrentaverageweightbymorethan20percent.
PeoplefromPr铆ncipeIslandwhohaveheardofPengandhistechniquesevencametoS茫oTom茅tolearnfromhim.AmongthemisEduardoMale,headoflocalanimalbreeders鈥檃ssociation.Seeingthatgreenhousescanhelpdryfoddermorequicklywhilepreventingitfromrotting,hewasquicktointroducethistechniqueamongmembersofhisassociation.FacingagreatdemandfromtheinhabitantsofPr铆ncipeIsland,PengalsodecidedtogivecoursesviaInternetduringhissparetime.
鈥淟ocalfodderproductionisinlinewithS茫oTom茅andPr铆ncipe鈥檚agriculturaldevelopmentstrategy,andgreenlivestockfarmingwillgivenewmomentumtolocalagriculturaldevelopment,鈥漵aidPeng.
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