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General Technical Documents

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  1. How to Process Jack bean (and other types of beans) as human food
    Jack bean is an excellent plant for enriching soil, because it grows under very difficult conditions. However, the beans contain toxins that normally make them unsuitable for human consumption. This document describes how to germinate jack bean to remove the toxins and increase the beans’...
  2. “Push and Pull” in Combatting Fall Army Worm and Witchweed (Striga)
    In the Push-Pull system, crops that repel pests and/or attract pests’ predators are intercropped with maize, to ‘push’ pests away from the main crop. Plants that attract pests are planted around the field, to ‘pull’ pests away from the maize. Incorporating legumes in this system means that soil...
  3. Farmer Own Soil Fertility Analysis
    Four nutrient deficiencies--phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, and magnesium--can be diagnosed by observing maize leaves. This document includes photos of a healthy maize leaf and of maize leaves demonstrating each of these nutrient deficiencies. It also contains suggestions for how to address each...
  4. Green Manure/Cover Crop approach in RAMA-BC
    This document distinguishes between ‘anchor’ cover crops (that are intercropped with a main crop such as maize) and ‘secondary’ cover crops (that don’t compete with the main crop because they have a short life cycle, and that can help cover the soil at the start of the growing season). The...
  5. Minimal Soil Disturbance and its Effect on Soil Moisture Availability
    This short document contains graphs that show how zero tillage leads to increased water infiltration and increased water retention in soil.
1 more General Technical Documents

ECHO Development Notes (EDN)

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  1. EDN Issue #145
    2019-10-18 Pest Prevention: The Foundation of Integrated Pest Management Echoes from our Network:Nutrition Education inthe Context of Community Agriculture Programs From ECHO's Seed Bank:New Lima Bean CultivarsAvailable Books, Web Sites, and Other Resources: Syntropic Farming Guidebook by Roger Gietzen





  2. EDN Issue #144
    2019-07-24 Introducing 100-Fold Gardens: Wicking Beds for High-Density Planting of Vegetables Where Water is Scarce Echoes from our Netwok: Literacy and Agriculture and Termite Harvesting in Ghana From ECHO's Seed Bank: Earthbag Houses for Storing Seeds Books, Web Sites, and Other Resources: Restoring the...





  3. EDN Issue #143
    2019-04-26 Learning about and from local seed systems Germination to Detoxify Jack Bean Techniques to Boost Plants’ Stress Tolerance and Extend Fruit Marketability From ECHO's Seed Bank: Fever Tree Books, Web Sites and Other Resources:Planetary Health Diet Proposal





  4. EDN Issue #142
    2019-01-29 Understanding Agriculture-Nutrition Linkages EIAC 2018 Topic Summaries Echoes from our Network: Intercropping Native Shrubs From ECHO's Seed Bank: Rollinia Books, Web Sites and Other Resources: Feed the Future Technical Briefs





  5. EDN Issue #141
    2018-10-17 Shea Nut: The Butter Tree For How Long Should Chaya Leaves be Boiled? Green Leafy Vegetables: Leaf Powder for Improved Nutrition From ECHO's Seed Bank: Jewels of Opar, An edible ornamental SPRINGNutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Training Resource Package
50 more ECHO Development Notes (EDN)

ECHO West Africa Notes

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  1. ECHO Notes de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Numéro 3
    2019-07-22 Le système de riziculture intensive (SRI) Qu'est-ce que le SRI ? Les étapes de mise en œuvre du SRI L'irrigation des plants Le sarclage et le sarclo-binage, quels sont les avantages ? Le rendement du SRI Etude comparée entre le SRI et la pratique traditionnelle de riziculture Intérêt du SRI...
  2. ECHO Notes de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Numéro 2
    2018-01-03 Techniques de production avicole traditionnelle epublication:Options de restauration des sols improductifsetOptions où l'eau est rare





  3. ECHO West Africa Note Issue 1
    2017-08-01 Foundations For Farming, an alternative for small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa How to prepare compost in 3 weeks? The preparation of organic liquid fertilizer eBook Release:Fundamentals of Agricultural Development epublication

ECHO Technical Notes

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  1. TN #94 Parasitic Plants in African Agriculture
    2019-03-21 This Technical Note provides an overview of parasitic plants of agricultural significance in Africa. Parasitic weeds cause drought stress and stunted crops. Affected plants include cereal grains (e.g., sorghum [Sorghum bicolor] and maize [Zea mays]) and grain legumes (e.g., cowpea [Vigna...





  2. TN #92 Bamboo for Construction
    2018-05-17 Many plants deemed as invaluable for the smallholder farmer offer nutritious food for the family, fodder for animals, or timber for construction. Remarkably, bamboo offers all three of these assets from the same perennial plant! This Technical Note will focus on how to most effectively harvest,...





  3. TN #91 Underutilized Crops for Small Farm Abundance
    2018-02-09 Traditional diets included a wide variety of ingredients from myriad wild and domesticated plants. Regional cuisines were shaped by native species in their local environment and by gradually-adopted plants from distant places. The modern global food system and market pressures have reversed this...





  4. TN #90 Low-Budget Research Ideas
    2017-09-29 As an organization that equips people with informational resources to reduce hunger, ECHO values the role of science in validating agricultural practices. Over the years, we have received numerous inquiries from university faculty and students looking for ways to do research that benefits...





  5. TN #89 Women and Agriculture
    2017-06-06 A version of this material first appeared in EDN 134. Gender dynamics in relation to agriculture is a big topic, and one we had not previously written about in EDN. In recent years, widespread attention has been paid to the disparity that often exists between men and women when it comes to...
29 more ECHO Technical Notes

Haitian Network Documents

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  1. Abundance Agroforestry - A Syntropic Farming Guidebook
    2019-01-20 Reviewed by Dawn Berkelaar ECHO has an extensive network of agricultural experts working in diverse areas of production and development. Many members contribute to our various publications and resources, often writing or contributing to our existing documents. Some provide self-developed...

ECHO Best Practice Notes

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  1. BPN #7 - Selecting Legumes as Green Manure/Cover Crops
    2017-05-26 By integrating legumes into cropping systems, small-scale farmers in low-resource settings can invest in the long-term health and resilience of their soils. Success or failure depends largely on choosing the right legume(s). With that in mind, this document presents insights on legume selection...





  2. BPN #6 - Conservation Agriculture
    2016-09-28 Farmers in many parts of the world, because of human population growth, have little choice but to crop their land continuously, with scarce resources to replace nutrients withdrawn by each successive crop. Crop residues are often lost as a source of organic matter and mulch, usually through...





  3. BPN #5 - Seed Storage in the Tropics
    2016-03-22 Yearly production of grains, pulses, and vegetables depends on a reliable supply of quality seed. This is true for the farmer growing a crop to feed their family as well as for the agricultural worker evaluating and growing out seeds of a new crop species or variety that could improve lives. In...





  4. BPN #4 - Institutional Agricultural Design
    2014-04-01 ECHO frequently receives questions from members of our network, asking how available land could be used to grow food and/or create income to augment an otherwise non-agricultural project. Broadly speaking, they are asking how to begin an institutional agriculture project—a coordinated agriculture...





  5. BPN #1 - Improving Degraded Land
    2012-11-14 The UNCCD estimates that over 250 million people are affected by land degradation, and about 1 billion people in over 100 countries are at risk. According to the WMO, 33% of the world’s land surface is vulnerable to land degradation.Degraded lands lead to overall reduced productivity and reduced...

ECHO Summaries

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  1. Farmer Engagement in Agriculture Extension
    2015-08-05 Good intentions and viable solutions will have little impact unless we engage with farmers in ways that are meaningful to them. Farmers put a great deal of confidence in what they learn from fellow farmers’ experiences, and they are more likely to trust what they see over what they hear....





  2. Effective Use of Workshops in Agriculture Extension
    2015-07-14 Workshops are an often-used and effective tool that extension workers can use to teach new skills to groups of farmers. This document, drawn from the USAID/MEAS Technical Note on Presenting Workshops to Adults, explains how a workshop setting differs from that of a classroom/teaching setting, and...





  3. Participatory Methods and Tools in Community Development
    2015-05-19 A participatory learning approach, applied at each stage of a community development project, is crucial to reaching the level of stakeholder involvement needed for lasting, positive change. The use of participatory survey and planning methods in the development process encourages community...





  4. Gender Equality in Agriculture Extension
    2015-05-01 This article draws from the MEAS Brief # 2 Reducing the Gender Gap in Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services: How to Find the Best Fit for Men and Women Farmers. Many of the gender-related topics and lessons discussed in the MEAS Brief also apply to the transfer of knowledge and resources...





  5. Climate Change and the Role of Development Workers in Helping Rural Agriculture Communities Adapt
    2015-04-30 This document draws from the MEAS brief #3Adaptation under the New Normal of Climate Change: The Future of Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services. Written for extension and advisory service providers, the MEAS brief contains insights helpful to practitioners working to develop strategies...
1 more ECHO Summaries

Books

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  1. Restoring the Soil - Second edition
    2019-05-21 Smallholder farmers around the world face some of the harshest growing conditions globally, yet they produce the majority of the world’s food. Soils in these areas often lack nutrient and water holding capacities, due to erosion or poor soil structure. These obstacles can be staggering for...





  2. Pig Farming in the Tropics
    2011-01-20 Smallholder pig rearing is becoming a resurgent interest area for both farmers and farmer advisers. With its helpful, practical and up-to-date advice on breeding, nutrition, housing and the management and economics of pig farming, this booklet provides you with all the information you need to...





  3. How to Make a Hand Pump
    2012-01-20 Access to clean water remains a priority in Africa, with improving access key to fighting water-borne disease. To facilitate such access in rural and peri-urban areas, this technical manual describes how to make a submerged hand pump from materials available locally. It aims particularly at...
17 more books
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  1. Tearfund Learn - A Practical Guide to Cereal Banks
    Cereal banks can be an effective way to tackle food insecurity. This guide contains step-by-step advice on how to set up and run a cereal bank. Cereal banks are community-based institutions that buy, store and sell basic food grains. Most cereal banks offer farmers the opportunity to store their...





  2. FMNR Works Along-Side CA Principles
    Farmers in southern Niger have reclaimed 5 million hectares of land and increased food production by more than 500,000 tons per year by managing naturally-occurring trees and shrubs with Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). The FMNR movement began in the early 1980s, and in recent years...





  3. Biblioteca Digital Wilson Popenoe
    Zamorano University digital library
136 more links

Presentations

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  1. Comment préparer soi-même ses bio-pesticides pour une alimentation saine
    2016-09-28 Face aux dangers que fait courir l’usage excessif des pesticides de synthèse sur la santé humaine, de plus en plus de producteurs ont recours à des solutions biologiques pour traiter les productions agricoles. Cette solution connait toutefois certaines limites dont l’une d’elle est son...



  2. Rompre le cycle de pauvreté des petits fermiers
    2016-09-29 Les petits fermiers sont dans un cycle infernal de pauvreté. Bien sûr leurs conditions de travail y est pour quelque chose, mais force est de reconnaitre que la pauvreté pourrait être aussi psychologique. Il s'agira donc dans cet exposé de proposer une série d'activité et de conduite à mesure...



  3. Conservation des produits agricoles
    2009-01-27 L'un des défis majeurs des producteurs est la bonne conservation de leurs productions jusqu'à la saison suivante. Parmi tant d'autres raison, l'on pourrait citer les méthodes traditionnelles de conservation. Dans cet exposé, il s'agira de donner les conseils pratiques aux producteurs pour leur...
20 more presentations

Plant Information Sheets

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  1. Prairie Acacia
    Acacia angustissima grows as a thornless shrub or small tree to an average of 2-7 meters tall with a single short trunk. It is a legume, capable of fixing nitrogen in nodules on its roots if the appropriate strain of Rhizobium bacteria is present in the soil. It is often found in tropical...
  2. Acacia mangium
    Acacia mangium can grow to be a tall tree up to 30 m. It is a fast-growing tree that can tolerate acidic and degraded soils. This tree grows best with moderate rainfall and full sunlight. It is one of the major leguminous species used in plantation forestry programs throughout Asia and the...
  3. Vegetable Amaranth
    Vegetable amaranths are mostly erect, annual plants, and are collected from the wild or cultivated in hot humid regions of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Several species of Amaranthus are grown for their protein-rich leaves and plant tops. The seeds of vegetable amaranths may be eaten but grain...
36 more plant information sheets

Videos

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  1. SAWBO - How to Remove the Poison from Cassava Flour
    2014-04-04 Cassava is a staple food for over 800 million people in approximately 80 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Asia, the Pacific and South America. Cassava contains cyanogens, which protect against pests and predators by producing cyanide. So-called bitter varieties produce more...