Navajo Crop Demonstration Project

Navajo Crop Demonstration Project

Summary

Our project this year was not as organized as last year, and we did not cooperate as we should have. Maybe it is because we used up all of the funding that we received on last year’s crops. The projects that were undertaken this year by using our own funding, and the enterprises that were carried out, were just a continuation of last year’s projects. Our technical advisor was re-assigned to other duties with his office so he was not able to spend any time with the producers. He did provide encouragement and support by correspondence.

Our demonstration project now has three participants. The project at the Many Farms High School site was very productive and very educational, with the exception of the pasture and the alfalfa plantings.

Objectives/Performance Targets

To provide adult Navajo farmers with sufficient resources to develop on-farm demonstration plots that will become learning centers for local farmers to see how sound management activities and innovative technologies designed for farms with limited water resources can be used to bring Navajo farms back to being fully productive and sustainable.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Farmers have demonstration plots and are gaining a firm understanding of sound financial management practices for successful farming.

Each participating farmer has established a demonstration plot that will allow comparison of traditional Navajo farming methods with newer innovative techniques or methods that are expected to increase crop production and sustainability.

Each farmer has planted a variety of crops, including vegetables and forage crops so that they will not have to purchase those products for their consumption and for their livestock.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Challenges that were encountered were:

Very hard soil with very poor drainage. Some areas of the field were low and had very poor drainage so the water drained into the lower areas and created a puddle that killed the crop.

A large amount of weeds were present in the pasture/alfalfa.

The vegetables were very productive because they were irrigated with drip irrigation, but because no chemicals were used for weed control, we had to spend a lot of time hoeing weeds.

Positive experiences that were encountered in the project:

A high tunnel greenhouse was built for planting and harvesting vegetables earlier in the season.

Vegetables that were planted in the high tunnel green house were harvested a month and one half earlier than usual for our area.

Squash produced was sold at a local convenience store, and selling it was very good publicity for the program.

More than fifty students were involved in the project.

Collaborators: