Save Seeds for World Seed Bank

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LILA students save seeds for World Food Corps
Seed Bank Combating Malnutrition and Hunger
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The seeds are sent to Dr. Willem Van Cotthem in
Belgium
After your seeds are sorted by Dr. Van Cotthem,
they are sent to Tindouf, Algeria or Tamil Nadu,
India. Eventually, World Food Corps Seed Bank
will send seeds for family gardens and school
gardens to other parts of the world.
Desertification is a global phenomenon.
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Dr Van Cotthem is a scientific consultant for
desertification and sustainable development. He
works with organizations such as UNICEF and SCAD
India

• Dr. Van Cotthem is a botanist, he studies plants.
• Botany is a branch of biology because plants are
  living things. He's kind of like a doctor for
  plants. He studies their growth, reproduction,
  diseases, metabolism, etc..
• Dr Van Cotthem knows a lot about desertification
  and how to grow fruits and vegetables in
  drylands.
• He was the Representative for Belgian Scientific
  Experts on Desertification at the UNCCD (United
  Nations Convention to Combat Desertification).

Dr. Van Cotthem is a scientist who doesn't just
study plants in libraries and classrooms. He
applies his scientific knowledge to the real
world, this is called technology. He travels to
Northwest Africa to transfer his knowledge of
science and technology to ensure that the
precious seeds you send grow into healthy,
delicious fruits and vegetables. This is called a
technology transfer.
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How Do Plants Grow in The Desert?

• By definition deserts are barren with sparse
  vegetation, very little rainfall, and extreme
  temperatures
• Soil or sand in the desert retains water poorly
  and lacks sufficient organic matter for plants to
  thrive.
• Your seeds need a lot of help to grow in the
  desert
• Precious water must be used sparingly and the
  soil has to be fed with nutrients
• It's not enough to deliver water directly to the
  root area of plants, the surrounding soil must be
  conditioned with nutrients and water retaining
  materials.
• Container gardening requires minimal potting soil
  and water.
• Container gardening is one part of the solution
  for desert farming.
• Children in Africa and South Asia learn to make
  self-watering containers so that they can grow
  their own food at school.
• The seeds are germinated in recycled plastic
  bottles then transplanted to school gardens and
  family gardens.

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Self-watering container made from recycled
plastic bottle
Self-watering pot
You can make your own self-watering plant
container with a plastic bottle or two nesting
containers and a wick
The wick absorbs water and takes it the root area
of the plant. This is called capillary action..
In simple terms its the movement of water
through porous material. Sponges and paper towels
absorb moisture through capillary action. Water
climbs up straws through capillary action. How
to make a self-watering container- 1. Poke
drainage holes in first container 2. Wet a cloth
wick (cloth string or strips of cloth), unfray
it and evenly distribute the threads around the
inside of the pot 3.The capillary action of wick
watering will supply as much water as the plant
needs. 4.Adjust size of the reservoir to meet the
needs of the plant -If the surface soil is moist
the wick is working -If the soil seems too wet,
use a smaller wick. -If the soil stays too dry,
use a larger diameter wick or increase the number
of wicks per container
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Water is a precious resource in the
desert Pitcher irrigation and drip irrigation are
much more efficient than surface watering
Pitcher irrigation is an ancient irrigation
method believed to have originated in North
Africa and the Middle East or possibly India. The
pots are unglazed and porous. Water is absorbed
and distributed through the walls of the pitcher
through capillary action. More efficient use of
water than drip irrigation . As much as 10 times
better than surface watering (spraying or
sprinkling) at utilizing water.
This is a clay pot from India. The wick on the
bottom further aids capillary action.
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Plants Growing in Sand? Theyre not really
growing in sand. There are pockets of soil
conditioner underneath the sand. What are the
hoses for? Drip irrigation utilizes more than 90
of the water used by delivering steady amounts to
targeted areas of the plants maintaining near
ideal soil conditions. Since the plants are
watered from underneath, near the root zone,
there is very little precious water lost to
evaporation, leaching or run off. Conventional
methods of surface watering (spraying or hosing
water on top of the plants) have a 65-75 rate
of efficiency (more or less depending on climatic
conditions)
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Container gardening, pitcher irrigation, drip
irrigation and hydroabsorbant materials in the
soil reduce evapotranspiration which helps to
save water. Evapotranspiration is the process of
water transpiring (give off water vapor) through
the leaves of a plant and water evaporating from
soil into the atmosphere.
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• How Plants Grow in Sand
• Sandy soil retains water and nutrients poorly
• Besides water, plants need mineral nutrients and
  organic growth activators.
• Dr. Van Cotthem invented terracottem, a soil
  conditioner comprised of hydroabsorbant materials
  and nutrients.
• Hydro means water, liquid or moisture. A
  hydroabsorbent material can hold at least three
  times its own weight in water.
• Terracottem contains hydrogels that retain
  hundreds of times their weight in water through
  capillary action.
• Since the soil holds the water longer it reduces
  the amount of fertilizer needed and mitigates
  erosion.
• For small plants and trees, terracottem is
  applied around the root zone to create a pocket
  of good soil similar to container gardening.
• Terracottem also has large scale applications.
  The United Nations Convention to Combat
  Desertification used it in Iran to control
  erosion.
• Terracottem has been used in Chinese agriculture
  and forestry and in Inner Mongolia for
  reforestation and vegetable production.

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• Taleb Brahim is the coordinating engineer for
  UNICEF Algeria's family garden program.
  Specifically he is an Agronomic Engineer, he
  applies engineering knowledge to agriculture and
  the environment. He studied botany, zoology,
  mathematics, statistics and physics. Mr. Brahim
  is the technology transfer expert in residence at
  the Saharawi refugee camps.

Mr. Brahim takes the seeds you send and studies
their adaptation to the local climate and other
environmental factors. He has his own family
garden in Smara, Algeria, which also functions as
a living lab where he experiments with a large
variety of plant species for drought and disease
resistance. He teaches local families how to
apply irrigation technology and grow food in the
desert.
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For the first time in 30 years fresh food is
growing in the Tindouf region of Algeria in the
Northwest Africa Sahara
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Recycle
Alleviate Hunger, Malnutrition and Poverty
Save Water
Reforest Drylands
Increase Food Security
Aid Scientific Research
Engage in Sustainable Development
Advance Drought Resistant Agriculture
Mitigate The Effects of Global Warming
Preserve Biodiversity
Save Seeds for World Food Corps Seed Bank