Day Three

We started our morning with a tour to the general manager of Earth´s plantations.  The presentations that we saw included the methane tank, biowaste digester, the mango fields and rice fields.  Here we learned about the techniques they use while farming.

The bio-digester is built on a premise of a single family unit that is able to collect the biowaste of a unit family and convert that into a methane gas.  With this concept in place,they would be able to heat the house, run a generator ,and provide lumination. 

The researchers at Earth University have been coming up with new ways to more efficiently produce mangos.  Traditional plantations had fewer, larger trees but Earth has being trying different methods that allow for more efficient production.  For example,  they trim the roots  to keep the trees small and plant more.  These methods have increased mango yield.

 While visiting the rice fields, we learned from a professional at Earth that they have also been changing their production methods.  This is because rice production to them is in its infancy (They have only been harvesting rice for five years).  What they have found to be useful was to avoid the use of pesticides by incorporating fungi to avoid pest infestation to the crop.

Later in the morning, we had another presentation dealing with water preservation.  To retain the water in the rainy season,  a retention pond was made.  This collected rain water which would later be used during the dry season.  These techniques are new to the local farmers and education began as a slow process but once the farmers were able to go on site to see the practical use they were more willing to discuss the use of these methods. 

Our afternoon consisted of spanish classes that met the level of participants whether they were beginning, intermediate or advanced.  That concluded our busy day! 

Watch Group Aire.