Promote Sustainable Agriculture in Chiapas, Mexico

Thanks to your support, many exciting activities have been taking place.

In the community of San Francisco, Teopisca, 8 collective members are growing organic vegetables for training purposes. The update from the field reports that they grew 3,100 red and white onions using vermicomposting (composting with worms) and they had very good results. Through support from DESMI, they learned how to add sheep and cow manure into the compost together with the worms. The benefit of this is to help multiply the worms, producing even more rich compost.

The land they cultivate is owned by the collective and distributed equally between the collective members. The collective will now try to grow maize with organic fertilizers.

They are currently in the process of learning how to save seeds so they don't have to spend money to buy seeds. For example, they are letting the onion flowers grow so they can collect the seeds to plant again. In addition to onions, they also grow beetroots, squash and lettuce.

This project was started as a response to women not being able to afford vegetables in the market. The practical solution was to grow their own produce. Now they have plenty of vegetables and are even able to share with their neighbors.

DESMI staff continues to support them in strengthening their work and with technical assistance. The group meets every Friday to talk about what plants they will grow, how they will prepare the soil, etc. This is but one of many successful organic agriculture projects that continues to be advance with your support!