SRISTI

Auta Deogratias

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced the First International Competition for scouting grassroots innovations in survival technologies in association with SRISTI and the Honey Bee Network. The response was spectacular with as many as twelve countries participating in it. The countries from which we received responses (figures in the bracket gives number of entries) were India (42), Nigeria (6), Nepal (8), St. Lucia (10), Chile (1), Turkey (1), Uganda (23), China (1), Ethiopia (1), Pakistan (4), Benin (2) and Kenya (14). The entries have been rated on the basis of six defined criteria on five point rating scales by four different judges. The criteria used were uniqueness of practice, novel use of ingredients and their apparent effectiveness, use of local material, prospects for research and development and applicability. All the above criteria carried equal weightage. The entry which won the first prize is published here.

First Prize: Extending the Life of Sweet Potato Slices, Auta Deogratias of Uganda received first prize in the First Global Knowledge Contest for his innovative practice regarding the storage of dry sweet potatoes. Well known as a progressive farmer in the County of Soroti, the innovator has many accomplishments to his credit. He was identified as the Best Youth of the Country and one of the farmer innovators in 1999 -World Food Day.

Way back in 1997, while removing weeds from his farm he noticed that insects and caterpillars avoided devouring Lantana leaves and also the sweet potato crops in the vicinity of the Lantana bush were spared from attack. This gave him the idea to use the leaves of Lantana camara for storing dry sweet potatoes up to a period of six months (Also refer Honey Bee 7(1): 7, 1996; 8(1): 3, 1997; 10(4): 7, 1999 for practices using Lantana camara). The procedure starts with harvesting sweet potatoes followed by peeling of their outer skin and slicing them. The sliced pieces are dried and are usually stored in the granary that had been thoroughly cleaned and pores closed by smearing with cowdung. He places a layer of Lantana leaves on the granary floor followed by a 40-45 cm layer of dry sweet potato slices which is again followed by a layer of Lantana leaves and so on. Depending on the height of the granary, the numbers of layers are adjusted. Each granary has a storage capacity of about 360 kg of sweet potatoes. With frequent onset of famine, early rotting of the harvest and attack by pest, Auta had no other alternative but to innovate a procedure to enhance the preservation time of sweet potatoes from three months to the next harvest.

Sweet potato is one of the staple foods in Uganda and its neighbouring countries, Kenya and Somalia, next to Cassava and is served in a variety of cuisine. Auta strongly recommends using Lantana leaves for storing other products likewise. He is enthusiastic about organic farming which is part of a soil fertility management program and also water harvesting which is of utmost significance in an area receiving less than 1000-1500 mm rainfall. The scarcity of water encourages conservation of water and Auta manages in doing so in his field by harvesting rain water and stymieing water from washing away the loose sandy top soil. This allows water to percolate into the soil thereby increasing soil moisture content. He adds cowdung manure that he collects from his neighbours to increase the quality of the soil. He feels that he is still a small farmer with merely 20 acres of lands to experiment on and is eager to share the results of his experiments with others.

Scout: Olupot. H.I. Institution: Department of Agriculture Designation: S.a.a.o( Address: Dept. of Agriculture, P.O. Box 61. Soroti, Uganda. 76 Vol 11(1) Jan-Mar 2000

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