{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02187631468237274, 'fraction_numerical': 0.004627681952040387, 'mean_word_length': 4.517401392111369, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Sorghum yield and zai holes in Goundi, Burkina Faso

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in sorghum yield between the Mossi zai hole and the Gourounsi zai hole, specifically examining the effects of manure and soil water conservation. A study field was created with six different treatments: (1) control with traditional management (no zai holes), (2) traditional management with manure, (3) Mossi zai holes with no manure, (4) Mossi zai holes with manure, (5) Gourounsi zai holes with no manure, and (6) Gourounsi zai holes with manure. Soil moisture readings were taken after each rainstorm (about weekly), soil properties were analyzed before planting and after harvest and above ground biomass was weighed at harvest. Manure was the only variable that significantly increased crop yield. This is different from the original hypothesis; zai holes were thought to be the main driver of increased crop yield in Sahelian West Africa. Zai holes did not have a significant effect on soil moisture. I was placed in the village of Goundi with the outrageous expectation of planting 5000 trees per year. This was incredibly daunting. When I arrived in Burkina Faso I felt that I had somewhat of an understanding of how the ecosystem worked from my course work at Michigan Tech. I soon realized I was wrong. Upon arriving in my village I learned that trees may not be what the people needed. I spoke with many farmers, held meetings, talked to my counterpart, and learned what projects my host organization had undertaken. I discovered that soil fertility was one of the main constraints in my village. I learned that there have been years of poor crop yield and people were going hungry for longer periods than they had in the past. The zai hole is a soil water conservation method that was taught to my Peace Corps group during pre-service training. While in Goundi, I noticed that there were some farmers who practice this method of water harvesting. I began to enquire as to why and how they did it. It turned out that in Goundi the zai holes were used differently than in other parts of Burkina Faso. After seeing that there was a variation in the different types of zai holes, it led me to question whether one zai technique was more productive than the other. Purpose 7 The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in …