Learning Groups

For farmers starting out: first season questions, land, capital, mentors and learning from people a few steps ahead.

Costing, pricing, contracts, buyers, cooperatives, loans and turning a farm into a business.

Soil testing, lime and manure, compost, fertilizer rates that actually pay, and fixing tired soil.

Drip, sprinkler and furrow systems, boreholes, pumps, water permits and irrigating through a dry spell.

Pruning, shade, harvesting and processing for coffee and tea, plus cashew, cotton and sunflower.

Layers and broilers: brooding, feed rations, vaccination schedules and keeping the cost per bird down.

Feeding, milking hygiene, breeding records and animal health for dairy cattle, goats and sheep.

Tomatoes, onions, cabbage, watermelon and leafy greens. Nursery care, spraying programmes, grading and selling to hotels and markets.

Paddy from nursery to milling — water management, transplanting, blast and brown spot, and getting a better price at the mill.

Everything maize: land preparation, spacing, top dressing, fall armyworm, storage and where prices are moving.