Graham Huff of the NGO League of Hope invited the University of Georgia and Meds and Food for Kids (MFK) to participate in a Peanut Production Training in Limbe, Haiti. Dr. Bob Kemerait and Dr. Tim Brenneman, plant pathologists with specializations in peanuts at the University of Georgia, along with their two MS graduate students Abraham Fuller and Marianne Luis, presented a range of detailed suggestions for improving peanut yields, improving post-harvest storage, reducing disease, and reducing aflatoxin contamination. Because Drs. Kermerait and Brenneman have worked with MFK for four years through USAID’s Peanut Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) program to help peanut farmers in the region, they have developed extensive understanding of local challenges for peanut farmers.

June, 2012 – Ag. Development NGO Coalition Training This past June 19-20, Graham Huff of the NGO League of Hope invited the University of Georgia and Meds and Food for Kids (MFK) to participate in a Peanut Production Training in Limbe, Haiti. Dr. Bob Kemerait and Dr. Tim Brenneman, plant pathologists with specializations in peanuts at the University of Georgia, along with their two MS graduate students Abraham Fuller and Marianne Luis, presented a range of detailed suggestions for improving peanut yields, improving post-harvest storage, reducing disease, and reducing aflatoxin contamination. Because Drs. Kermerait and Brenneman have worked with MFK for four years through USAID’s Peanut CRSP program to help peanut farmers in the region, they have developed extensive understanding of local challenges for peanut farmers. For the training, MFK’s Jamie Rhoads arranged site visits to two of MFK’s nearby plots in Bas Limbe and provided demonstrations of aflatoxin testing as well as the used of cost-cutting tractors for soil preparation. League of Hope invited roughly 20 Haitian agronomists to participate in the training session. Participants included representatives from Zamni Agricole and the World Food Program. \

Dr. Brenneman started the training by sharing that we can trace the domestication of peanuts back to 1500 BC in Paraguay, and that indigenous people of Hispaniola in fact cultivated peanuts prior to the arrival of Columbus. Giving a sense of the evolution of peanut production in the US, Dr. Brenneman noted that by improving methods and varieties, American peanut farmers have increased yields from 900 lb/acre in 1950 to roughly 5000 lb/acre in 2010. In Haiti, the average farmer can currently expect yields of roughly 600 lb/acre with traditional methods.

Dr. Kemerait then outlined steps for improving yields. He highlighted the importance of good seed, thorough tillage, planting depth, fertilizers and nutrients, the importance of controlling and removing weeds, and described key insect threats. Within this, he shared the results of soil tests he and Dr. Brenneman had conducted, noting mineral deficiencies relevant to local farmers. Abraham Fuller went on to describe the foliar diseases that currently cut Haitian production by at least half, late leaf spot and leaf rust, as well as fungicides and methods that can reduce their presence. Drs. Brenneman and Kermerait had the chance to id these diseases for everyone during the field visit in Bas Limbe. Following the visit, Dr. Kemerait demonstrated the use of a peanut maturity chart to help a farmer determine harvest timing. Finally, Marianne Luis emphasized the importance of lowering aflatoxin contamination, a toxin the majority of participants were not aware of. Marianne shared that reducing drought and disease stress, and improving post-harvest storage are essential in reducing contamination.

The training ran short on time but was a success, with participants showing particular interest in peanut varieties, diseases, aflatoxin, and aflatoxin testing.