EBDA in June 2022
Economy of Love has a new website!
Economy of Love has launched its new website where visitors can learn more about the principles, criteria, and ethics of the standard. The website will also walk visitors through the registration and certification process and will introduce the Carbon Credit certificate (EoL CC), which includes the process of carbon credits calculation and purchase, and the necessary conditions that must be met by farmers to be certified. Several farms and companies are currently becoming members of EoL, but SEKEM Wahat farm represents a great example of proper compliance; the farm meets all of the EoL criteria and is now being registered to EoL CC, making them on track to count the amount of carbon sequestered.
Economy of Love has a new website!
Economy of Love has launched its new website where visitors can learn more about the principles, criteria, and ethics of the standard. The website will also walk visitors through the registration and certification process and will introduce the Carbon Credit certificate (EoL CC), which includes the process of carbon credits calculation and purchase, and the necessary conditions that must be met by farmers to be certified. Several farms and companies are currently becoming members of EoL, but SEKEM Wahat farm represents a great example of proper compliance; the farm meets all of the EoL criteria and is now being registered to EoL CC, making them on track to count the amount of carbon sequestered.
It gives us great joy to assist Egyptian farmers in becoming more sustainable. We are constantly raising awareness and interest in shifting from conventional to organic and biodynamic farming. The following graph depicts our membership growth over the last six months. Through our field engineer’s effort, EBDA has increased the number of registered farmers from 1589 in May to 1692 in June, thus recording 103 new farmers. In addition, EBDA has recorded 261 membership applications for conversion which are currently being reviewed by the organization’s engineers and consultants.
EBDA team training:
Believing in the importance of personal development and knowledge sharing, a training program was developed for the team that covers a wide range of topics that the members expressed interest in. Each week, a member prepares a training on a specific topic or skill he is well versed in and shares his expertise with his colleagues. The idea originated from our colleague Talis Bosma, who took over the first session and presented Microsoft Word and Excel management skills and tips.
Monthly training:
This month’s monthly training took place on the 5th and 6th of June, at SEKEM farm.
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Cotton Production Challenges:
The first day started with Dr. Hassan Dahi who gave engineers two sessions about cotton pests and diseases and how to identify and differentiate between symptoms that affect the plant in the field. Dr. Hassan introduced 13 pests that affect cotton in Egypt, then focused on the main differences between the most three harmful insects, their symptoms on the plant, and how to control them. He then proceeded to present the origin and spread of the armyworm in Egypt. Finally, Dr. Hassan concluded his training by explaining how to use the appropriate products according to the pest and disease in place, and the different means of biological control against cotton pests.
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Soil Salinity Challenges in Egypt:
On the second day, Eng. Talis Bosma, a project manager of Delphy international, conducted a session regarding soil salinity. The lecture began with a brief introduction to soil salinity, followed up with a demonstration of its causes, and symptoms. Talis then proceeded to explain the difference in salinity resistance between crops and provided examples from field experiments of plants having high, moderate, and low resistance. The session was concluded by an open discussion where participants addressed their questions regarding the topic and voiced the concerns and challenges that farmers face dealing with salinity.
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The Production of Green Manure
The soil salinity session was followed by a training on green manure from Dr. Saber Hendawy who explained its concept and rationale behind relying, and enumerated the several benefits it has the soil and plants. Dr. Saber then invited participating engineers to the farm of Meezan where they experienced firsthand what green manure looks like, how it is made, and how to correctly apply and handle it at the appropriate time.
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Core Program for the Engineers:
A group of EBDA engineers attended a drawing session with Ms. Petra that focused on “observing without the sense of sight”. Attendees had a chance to take a breather from work to focus on their inner compass as they were asked to capture what they feel and imagine into drawings.
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DESALT project advancement:
We started the summer season for the Desalt project with cultivation of crops like hibiscus, cowpea and sorghum under different water treatments and foliar sprays. Furthermore, there was the ability to do capacity building sessions for the EBDA engineers.
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Member’s Assembly Standards Sessions :
EBDA attended the BIODYNAMIC FEDERATION – DEMETER INTERNATIONAL new members’ assembly standard sessions (BFDI). This assembly was made up of seven sessions, each with a different set of standards. In particular, the first standard focused on production, new production methods, horn silica spraying before harvest, conversion periods, removing ethylene for flower induction, and biosolarization. The second standard dealt with production, bee management, conversion milk/goat’s milk, and conventional feed herbivores. The third standard discussed ecological responsibility and covered topics such as irrigation water, water management, waste management, and copper on annual crops such as potatoes and tomatoes. The fourth standard was about social responsibility and included CaCl and enzymes for the production of cider, fruit wine, and vinegar.