Madagascar: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE – The Pfumvudza technique is producing promising results

The presidential couple visited the pilot site for the implementation of the agricultural technique Pfumvudza yesterday. A method that is proving its worth and will be popularized throughout the country.

Preserving soil fertility, reduced labor intensity, and optimized yield. These are the keywords that sum up the advantages of the agricultural technique called Pfumvudza. Tested on a pilot site in Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy, this method labeled “agro-ecology” is proving successful.

After receiving reports on the yield after a year of testing, Andry Rajoelina, President of the Republic, accompanied by his wife, Mialy Rajoelina, visited Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy yesterday. They were able to visually observe the yield rate of the pilot site using the technique.

Started in March, the rice yield on 624 m² is 375 kilograms. The weighing of the sacks was done in front of the presidential couple. This, with nearly 1.7 kg of seed. Translated to hectares, the annual rice yield on the pilot site in Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy is 5 hectares, according to the project technicians. “A yield more than sufficient for a family of six for a year,” they add in unison. Furthermore, in Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy, it is rice planted on dry land or “Vary an-tanety”.

Based on this observation, the Head of State stated that the program is a way to achieve food self-sufficiency for households. It can also help vulnerable families to escape poverty. The surplus production can indeed be sold. Moreover, in addition to the agricultural technique and training in project and financial management, the food, as well as financial autonomy of households, is the goal.

“Madagascar has vast fertile lands and a strong human capital. These are our riches. … Our problem, until now, has been not being able to establish synergy between them. Providing people with the know-how to optimize the production of our lands is the solution to save our country,” says the President of the Republic. According to him, the Pfumvudza method is a way to achieve this. It will be combined with the land certificate distribution project aimed at two million households.

Andry Rajoelina supports, “we have already anticipated by giving farmers the opportunity to secure their land or have access to land ownership through the distribution of land certificates. Now, we will help them to live decently from their activity and have correct incomes.”

One million households

The Head of State aims to promote the popularization of this technique as a “presidential project”. The goal is to train one million households in this method within two years. Beneficiary families of the “Ankohonana Miarina” project will also be trained in this technique. This program aims to provide vulnerable households, under certain conditions, with land up to 2,000 m², with a residence, to conduct agricultural projects.

This technique resembles a household approach to achieve food self-sufficiency, once scaled up. A strategy that has proven successful in African countries. The results observed yesterday in Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy have evidently convinced the tenant of Iavoloha to move to the next level and popularize it nationwide.

The technique involves dividing a plot of land into four parcels. For Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy, each parcel is 624 m². “A cover plant” is planted on the first parcel. They are alternated or combined with dried grass to cover the soil. This helps to retain its moisture. As a result, only 350 milliliters of water are needed every week or every two weeks to water each plant, when it does not rain.

Furthermore, in response to a question from the First Lady, technicians affirm that the Pfumvudza technique can be used even in arid areas, such as in the South. Rice, corn, and soybeans have been chosen for the other three parcels in Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy. An annual rotation is performed between the four plants on each of the four parcels. This helps to preserve soil fertility and optimize yield.

The rest of the 5,000 m² of land is dedicated to vegetable cultivation. Watercress with large green leaves, for example, is grown on dry land. The pilot site is the field of application of the know-how acquired by some of the thirty farmers who attended training in Zimbabwe in January 2023. They were sent there at the initiative of President Rajoelina, after discussions with the American organization “Foundation for Farming”.

The example of the Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy site will serve as a concrete example to convince skeptics. The Pfumvudza technique also helps to combat slash-and-burn agriculture, which is the main cause of wildfires. “Farmers will indeed realize the importance of grasses and will no longer burn them,” emphasize the technicians in Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy.

Garry Fabrice Ranaivoson