Improve Nicaraguan Farmers Nutrition & Incomes

My name is Pedro.  I live in the community of Esperanza N°1, located 35 kms. from San Carlos in the Department of Rio San Juan.  I have been a farmer for approximately 44 years. I enjoy working the land and taking care of it.  I am an open-minded producer willing to adapt my planting system. I have realized that if you do the same thing over and over again and expect different results, you are not going to see them. The many trainings from Self – Help International in which I have participated have helped me a lot in the face of all the challenges that nature presents.

I remember that when I became the owner of the land where I live, agriculture was a beautiful thing. We planted without much effort and the yields were good, but in these times everything is more difficult. So as a farmer I am looking for options to continue working on my land and harvesting my own food. I have made some drastic changes, starting with not burning my crop residue. I saw that the soils of my plot were compacting, and the yields of my crops of corn and beans were declining.  All the residue of the harvest now goes back to the soil to serve as nutrients for the land. Many years ago I did not apply any type of fertilizer and I did not vary my seed for sowing. I always used my native seed that I harvested.  In recent years I have added synthetic products to the earth so that I can produce more.

Now, with the support of Self-Help International’s trainings, field days and other talks, I understand that it is necessary to use new varieties of certified improved seeds that offer higher yields, are more resistant to pests and diseases, and are adapted to the weather in this area. The Agriculture program promoted by Self-Help provides us with certified seeds that are very useful for small farmers.

The first time I received a donation of 4 pounds of corn of the INTA-Nutrader variety.  The Self-Help agronomist taught me how to implement the double-row planting technique. It allows one to plant twice as much seed in a smaller space, and the yield is also doubled. From the first days I saw that the variety was very good.  The plant did not grow as much compared to the native varieties that I was used to planting, but I obtained a yield of 380 pounds of corn, which is very good. To be honest, I did not apply any fertilizer to this corn, I only dedicated myself to keeping it clean.  I think that if I had applied fertilizer the yields would have been even better. 

For the second season of 2023 I planted 25 pounds of corn in a larger field, because I really liked the seed variety. From it I obtained 1,500 pounds of corn, despite the drought that affected us. I expected the yields to be lower but the variety behaved very well.  With this production I obtained food for my family, feed for my animals and seed to be sown in 2024. The remaining 900 pounds I sold to help myself financially. 

I also realized that making some changes in the planting distance would favor my crops more because it rains a lot here.  For the second season of 2024 I planted the same amount of seed, 25 pounds, and I harvested 2,500 pounds, an increase of 1,000 pounds. Each season I experiment, following the advice of the technician and looking for options on my own.  For this season I changed the planting date, making it a little later than usual. This made it easier for the corn to be harvested in the summer time, since this year the rains persisted much longer than normal.  In addition, I fertilized with 15 lb. of urea and the results were a higher yield with good test weight.

I will not change this corn for another variety, since I use it specifically for my family consumption and feeding my farm animals. I also share it with other farmers who live around me so that they can the benefit from it and the planting technique that the organization promotes. We are planting in a tested way that allows us to achieve better yields as well as guarantee food for our home and meet our other needs. Once we ensure our food, we sell the surplus and the money earned helps us to meet other basic needs of the home, such as daily food, clothes and some gifts that we give ourselves. My daughter likes the Nutrader corn--she says it tastes good in tortillas and the color is white.

In addition to corn, I have also benefited from planting INTA Bioapante biofortified beans, a very good variety that is adapted to the climate of the area.      Self-Help International loaned me 10 pounds of beans, and I returned 20 pounds, to the seed bank from the San Isidro community of Nueva Jerusalem. I thank those producers in the community of San Isidro for trusting me and the entire group in my community and sharing the seed from their bank. Once the beans were planted there were heavy rains and floods, but even so I obtained 80 pounds of beans, which was enough (20 pounds) to repay the seed bank of San Isidro. The rest I saved for food and some seed for the next season.

What I like most about the Self-Help organization is that it provides useful tools to low-income producers to produce more on less land, such as biofortified seed for basic grains such as rice, corn and beans, suitable for our area and with productive characteristics.  In addition, we receive technical assistance through personal visits and messages in our WhatsApp groups.

I thank the Self-Help organization and its donors for supporting the agricultural sector in our area, always providing basic grains with high nutritional content and higher yields, plus resistance to pests, diseases, drought and excess rainfall.

 I say goodbye and thank you on behalf of those who make up the group of farmers of the Esperanza N°1 community.