Yes

To effectively implement subsurface fertilisation, the following should be carried out. Use of briquette machines to produce 1 to 3 grams of briquettes that are larger than conventional fertiliser granules is recommended:

• Step 1: Prior to application, dig small holes 7 to 10 centimetres deep along planting rows in drained rice paddy or regular field, ideally located in the centre between a location where four plants will be planted.
• Step 2: Place the briquettes in the whole, below the soil surface, and cover with dug soil.
• Step 3: Crops should be planted within seven days of fertiliser application.

Following are the main steps for making your own briquettes. Making briquettes leading up to planting is more effective, as they are not stored for too long. A standard briquette machine can be purchased for between USD 3,000 and USD 6,000.

• Step 1: Collect manure from cow and/or horse waste.
• Step 2: Allow the manure to moderately dry (so it is possible to handle), but not for extensive periods, otherwise it will degrade. Keep manure out of direct sunlight, or when processing, remove the outer layer before manufacturing briquettes, and do not leave exposed, especially during rainy periods.
• Step 3: Press manure into briquettes using briquette press machine – see directions below to make your own home-press.
• Step 4: Allow the briquettes to dry in a cool, dry location, and store for later use.

To make your own large manure briquette press using household items, follow the instructions below:

• Step 1: Cut the top off a straight-sided 2-litre plastic soft drink bottle at the top of straight side.
• Step 2: Obtain a tinned food can that is just smaller than the diameter of the bottle. Preferably leave tin un-opened.
• Step 3: Line the bottle with a plastic bag.
• Step 4: Place slightly damp manure (cow, horse or both) inside the bag, inside the bottle, filling the space.
• Step 5: Place tin on top of manure.
• Step 6: Place small plank of wood on top of the tin.
• Step 7: Place your foot on top of the piece of wood, and slowly apply pressure to the tin, pressing the manure down, adding more manure if it compresses further than the depth of the tin.
• Step 8: When the manure will compress no more, remove plank and tin, and draw the compressed manure from the bottle, removing the plastic bag to reveal a cylinder of compressed manure.
• Step 9: Slice with a sharp knife to discs 2 to 3 cm thick, and use a piece of 2 cm diameter metal or plastic pipe to punch a hole through each disc. Reuse the
• Step 10: Allow to air dry as individual rings in a cool dry place. As soon as they are strong enough, you can hang the rings on wire to continue to dry. Use in fields within a month of manufacture. The ring increases surface area, and speeds-up the drying process.

To effectively leverage integrated pest management:

• Step 1: Identify damage and responsible pest. Regular crop monitoring is important, to ensure early identification. Bottle traps are useful for capturing samples to examine and identify a pest.
• Step 2: Learn about the pest and host life cycle and biology.
• Step 3: Monitor or sample environment for pest population.
• Step 4: Establish action threshold. If aiming to tackle weed infestation, intervention must occur before the weed matures and begins spreading seeds. Some thresholds are high. For example, if dealing with caterpillars, soya beans can tolerate a certain level of defoliation without it impacting crop yield.
• Step 5: Identify IPM response tactics.
  • Cultural methods –planting crops that are adapted or suited to conditions and responding to their water, nutrient and shelter needs.
  • Physical methods – mechanical weeding, such as mechanical weeding or using organic or plastic mulch to cover the ground to reduce weed presence/success.
  • Genetic methods – selecting modified or adapted pest-resistant varieties.
  • Biological methods – using natural predators, push-pull approaches, intercropping, etc. and use of use of organic pesticides.
  • Chemical methods – considering all levels of toxicity – from pheromone deterrents to conventional pesticides.
• Step 6: monitoring for ongoing efficacy, and adjustment of tactics where relevant/necessary.  Aiming at all times to use chemical pesticides rationally and as a very last resort.

In the cases where chemical pesticides are used as part of an IPM strategy, the Agri-Intel website is an invaluable resource, which provides detailed chemical management advice: https://www.agri-intel.com.

To effectively leverage flooding irrigation:

• Step 1: prepare the field, digging parallel furrows and raising beds with the excess soil. Crops are planted in beds, and the irrigation water will flow in the furrows.
• Step 2: Using a pump or gravity fed water storage, allow water to flow into the field, flooding furrows.
• Step 3: Insert a fine mesh or introduce a hessian sack at the in-flow point to trap weeds and pests.
• Step 4: Water release should be moderated so as not to flow too fast and erode beds, and too slow such that it remains trapped at the in-flow point.
• Step 5: Water release can be more effective if released in surges, taking advantage of infiltration rates and capillary action in soil.
• Step 6: Observe progress. Avoid leaving soil crusts, which will make water rush over.

A sustainable water source must be identified and a pumping/irrigation system should be used.

To effectively implement  short term reactive practices:

• Step 1: Inspecting the crop regularly and systematically by walking through the field following an M-shaped pattern will ensure that the farmer does not just look around the edges, but also inspects in the middle of the field.
• Step 2: Farmers should carefully examine the crops for any signs of pests/diseases. They may be able to identify the presence of pests or disease through observing the following:
  • If the plant is wilted.
  • Are the leaves more yellow than usual?
  • Are the crops smaller than usual?
  • Do the leaves have spots?
  • Have parts of the plan died?
• Step 3: Once the foreign specie has been identified, the farmer should employ a method to eradicate the issue thoroughly and immediately.

To effectively leverage resistant varieties, the following should be carried out:

• Step 1: Survey farmers and meet with other local and national level extension officers to determine key interventions required – drought tolerance, prevalence of certain pests, etc.
• Step 2: Research and meet other local extension officers to discuss best methods applied to the agricultural practice of resistant varieties in the region.
• Step 3: Talk to the agricultural dealers and seed manufacturers about the varieties being offered and their characteristics.
• Step 4: Talk to the agricultural research departments about best opportunities under climatic change in your specific area.
• Step 5: Either independently or in partnership with seed manufacturers, establish test plots of viable resistant varieties in key locations to act as demonstration plots for farmers to visit, observe growth and harvest, and test the outcomes. Many conditions may come into play when attempting to mainstream resistant varieties, including visual aspects, harvesting and processing differences, palatability and taste, etc. All of these issues must be discussed with farmers during testing and roll-out to ensure resources are not wasted with varieties that will fail.

To effectively implement continuous long-term use of cultural practices, the following steps, as part of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM)  should be carried out, but before taking any pest control action, IPM first sets an action threshold, a point at which pest populations or environmental conditions indicate that pest control action must be taken:

• Step 1: Inspection. The cornerstone of an effective IPM program is a schedule of regular inspections. This should be regular to identify any new visitors to your crop.
• Step 2: Preventive Action: regular inspections reveal vulnerabilities in your pest management program, steps can be taken to address them before they cause a real problem. One of the most effective prevention measures is exclusion, i.e., performing structural maintenance e.g by closing potential entry points revealed during inspection thereby physically keeping pests out and hence reducing the need for chemical control.
• Step 3: Identification: Different pests have different behaviours. By identifying the problematic species, pests can be eliminated more efficiently and with the least risk of harm to other organisms. Professional pest management always starts with the correct identification of the pest in question.
• Step 4: Analysis: Once you have properly identified the pest, you need to figure out why the pest is in your facility, e.g. food debris or moisture accumulation that may be attracting it? What about odors, through floors or cracks, etc.
• Step 5: Treatment Selection: Cultural or IPM stresses the use of non-chemical control methods, such as exclusion or trapping, before chemical options. When other control methods have failed or are inappropriate for the situation, chemicals may be used in least volatile formulations in targeted areas to treat the specific pests- use the right treatments in the right places, and only as much as you need to get the job done.
• Step 6: Monitoring: Constantly monitoring your facility for pest activity and facility and operational changes can protect against infestation and help eliminate existing ones. Your agricultural extension officer can assist you in technical advice to keep pests away.
• Step 7: Documentation: Up-to-date pest control documentation is important and could include scope of service, pest activity reports, service reports, corrective action reports, trap layout maps, lists of approved pesticides, pesticide usage reports and applicator licenses

To effectively implement vaccination campaigns:

• Step 1: Networks that notify farmers about upcoming vaccination campaigns must be established to promote the significance of vaccinating animals across the country. This can be promoted through government bulletins and community radio, utilising extension networks, village level administration, and traditional leadership.
• Step 2: Vaccination parks for cattle can be set up by veterinary officials to restrain livestock movement that might increase disease spreading.
• Step 3: Goats and sheep can be vaccinated at their locations where officials will move from one village to another to reach more population.
• Step 4: Training of personnel is important to ensure that vaccination is carried out before seasonal outbreaks and prevent the spread of disease.
• Step 5: Commence campaigns one month prior to the season when outbreaks are most common or upon notice of a disease incidence.

To effectively implement resistant breeds:

• Step 1: Breed livestock with increased resistance against pathogens or other environmental stressors (heat stress).
• Step 2: Select animals of higher general disease resistance (resistance to several diseases) using a heritable indicator such as natural antibodies.
• Step 3: Keep record of good performing animals; unhealthy or easily prone of weak animals should not be used for mating; males should be castrated leaving best specimen to breed in subsequent seasons.
• Step 4: Breed or inseminate the selected cows with desired or selected bulls or semen of the desired traits.

To effectively implement species diversification:

• Step 1: Research possible species of livestock that may be productive in the climate of the surrounding area and compatible with existing livestock.
• Step 2: Communicate with national agricultural extension/neighbouring farmers and research to gain an understanding of which breeds have been identified as having potential locally and which are available in the region. Other farmers in the area may have information and experiences to share.
• Step 3: Inform neighbouring farmers of the potential species that they may be interested in including into their farming system.
• Step 4: Outline the positive and possible negative aspects of incorporating different species into their system.
• Step 5: Identify how farmers can access different species and whether they are available at local markets or if these species need to be imported from other areas of the country/region.
• Step 6: Monitor introduced species to ensure that impacts – positive and negative – are understood.

To effectively leverage alternative breeds:

• Step 1: Consult with national agricultural research and extension services to identify adaptable breeds available in the country/region, noting type of traits suitable for the particular ecological zone, and how to access stock. Traits to focus-on include health, milk production, disease tolerance, fertility, economic performance and adaptation to climate change and climate variability. Assisting with sourcing potential alternative breeds is a key role for Extension Officers.
• Step 2: Before selecting a substitution breed, the current breed must be evaluated to identify traits that are lacking, as well as compatibility. This will help in identifying traits that need to be improved.
• Step 3: Determine the cost effectiveness of the new breed to the area and or farmer, in terms of feed conversion rates, disease resistance, environmental conservation etc.
• Step 4: Consistently keep record of the livestock performance and behaviour for discussion with other farmers and extension officers.