Evaluation of Onion Growing Practices in Guatemala
F2F Volunteer Deron Beck (far right) with the rest of the Sacapulas, Guatemala Team Take a look at the colorful picture to the right. What does it remind you of? A beautiful tapestry? A new clothing pattern? It is actually the new onion planting strategy for Sacapulas, Guatemala. The colorful spaces and checkerboards are different growth trials. This color coded organizational chart is part of a procedure of crop rotation to find the best way to grow the onions. At the bottom is a space for a rotation demo. Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Deron Beck designed this system as a way to encourage new practices by comparing them with traditional practices. Deron knew that farmers are often reluctant to adopting new practices so by developing a system for them to compare results, he felt they would be willing to make changes and eventually maximize their production of onions. In Guatemala, and other countries around the world, onion growing practices are not standardized. Deron believes that a mor...