FACILITATOR’S GUIDE
This guide will help you use the Red Amaranthus Vegetable
Growing Module Training Set. The set is designed to
encourage group discussion as well as provide information on
the production techniques of red amaranthus. As the facilitator,
read through and familiarize yourself with the entire guide
before facilitating any discussion for the first time.
Red Amaranthus
(Amaranthus blitum)
Vegetable Growing
Module Training Set2
Using Visual Aids and Participatory Learning
We know that people learn better if they are actively engaged in the
learning process. Studies have shown that we remember only 20%
of the information we hear and 40% of the information we see and
hear. However, when we see ideas represented visually and also
actively engage with the information through discussion, debates,
role-plays or other participatory teaching methods, learners retain
80% or more of the information that is presented to them.
Clearly as instructors, it is worth the time and effort to create
participatory, multi-sensory presentations. The Red Amaranthus
Vegetable Module Training Set is a tool designed to assist you in
this effort. There is no one way to use it. We are always interested
in improving our product, so if you have suggestions, comments,
or questions please contact us.
This facilitator’s guide is written in English but depending on your
audience, you may need to make your presentation in the local
language. Read through the guide and consider how you translate
concepts into the local language.3
PART 1. TRAINING CHECKLIST
Make sure you can answer YES to each question before
beginning the session.
• Did you gather background information about the group you
are going to train?
• Did you review the facilitator’s guide and charts?
• Do you understand the key issues to cover for each chart?
• Does the venue have enough seats and space?
• Do you have all the materials you need for the activities and
discussions?
Outline of a training session:
1. Welcome and introductions (5 minutes.)
2. Review of the session objectives (5 minutes.)
3. Large group presentation and discussion of the charts in the
training module (Approximately 5 minutes per chart.)
4. Ice breaker (5 minutes.)
5. Break into small groups and answer the following: (20
minutes.)
– What are 3 things I learned today?
– What is one action I will take as a result of this training?
– What questions do I still have about the topic?
6. Sharing of small group discussions in the large group (10
minutes.)
7. Summarize and conclude the session (15 minutes.)4
PART 2. OBJECTIVES FOR THE TRAINING
By the end of this training, participants will have learnt:
• The benefits of using quality seed
• To conduct a germination test
• To selecting a good site for red amaranthus vegetable growing
• To prepare quality seeds for planting
• To prepare and apply fertilizer/manure
• To plant red amaranthus vegetable
• When and how to weed
• To manage pests and diseases
• To carry out proper harvesting of red amaranthus vegetable
• The methods used to preserve vegetables
PART 3. HOW TO USE THE TRAINING SET
• Show the first chart to the participants.
• Read the title of the chart.
• Ask participants to explain what they know about the topic and
what they understand from the visual.
• Reinforce accurate information given and correct wrong
information.
• Read the tagline on the chart if there is one.
• Ask participants if they have any questions about what has
been discussed.
• Go to the next chart.5
CHART 1: Logo chart*
Red amaranthus is known by different names across the country.
In Luganda Ebbugga , in Acholi Abuga , and in Ateso Buga . The
scientific name for red amatharus is Amaranthus blitum .
Red amaranthus leaves are usually picked when fresh and eaten
as a vegetable.
* This is a logo chart.
PART 4: THE DISCUSSION SESSION
A) VEGETABLE CHART SET6
CHART 2: Use quality seed for better yields
Use quality seeds of a recommended variety. Quality seeds are a
fundamental requirement for good production. Home processed
seed can also be of good quality if it is well processed and
stored. Using quality seeds ensures:
• Lower seeding rate
• Higher seedling emergence, usually above 85%
• Vigorous seedlings
• More uniform plant stand
• Faster growth rate
• Better resistance to pests and diseases
• Uniformity in maturity
• The plant is more tolerant to drought
Quality seed should be of uniform size, colour and shape. It
should also be free of foreign matter such as weed seed, chaff
and should be pest and disease free.7
CHART 3: Conduct a germination test
Before sowing, test seed for viability and germination potential by
conducting a quick germination test. Follow the steps below:
• Get representative samples of seeds from the top, middle and
bottom of the seed bag.
• Mix the sample seeds and count 100 seeds to use for the test
(for small seed quantities, farmers can count 20 seeds).
• Put the seeds in a container of water for 24 hours.
• Drain off the water and wrap the seeds in the soaked cotton cloth
to create a bag holding the seeds.
• Tie the cloth bag to a stick. Tilt the stick to encourage drainage
from the cloth bag. Keep the cloth moist by watering 3 times a
day. Leave it tied for 48 hours.
• Untie the cloth bag and count the number of seeds that have fully
germinated (both the shoot and roots have emerged).
• If 85 of the 100 seeds or 17 of the 20 seeds or more have both
the shoot and roots emerged within 2 weeks, then it is quality
seed which can be used for planting.
• If the percentage is slightly less than 85 of the 100 seeds,
increase the seed rate at planting. If the percentage is less than
40%, discard the seed. Do not use the seed because it will have
poor yields.8
CHART 4: Site selection
• Vegetables grow well on flatland, lowland and upland if
terracing and raising of beds is practiced to control soil
erosion.
• In lowlands, dig channels to drain or divert excessive water.
Vegetables grow well in lowlands during the dry season (off
season).
• Fertile loam soil is the best soil for growing vegetables.
• The site should not have tree shades as some trees have
pests and diseases. They could damage the plants.
• The soil should not be rocky.
• The soil should be fertile or manure should be added.
• The soil should be well drained.
• Close proximity to home is ideal but vegetables are threatened
by domestic birds and animals.
• The site should have good access to a water source.9
CHART 5: Land preparation
• Land preparation starts with clearing or cutting of all the
tall grasses, removing trees including stumps, cutting down
bushes, and removing stones and other obstacles from the
field. This is done to ease the ploughing processes and all
other farming activities.
• Do not burn the bushes because burning exposes the soil to
erosion and also reduces soil fertility due to loss of nutrients.
• After clearing the land, plough the field for the first time and
ensure that the soil has very small debris.
• If the field has perennial weeds, spray with glyphosate
herbicide such as weedmaster or round up. Remember to
contact an agriculture extension worker for guidance on
herbicide.
• A second ploughing is followed by harrowing until the soil
makes fine tilth (very small particles).10
CHART 6: Manure application
All african indigenous vegetables need manure/fertilizers for
vigorous plants, resistance to pests and diseases and high
yields.
Farm yard manure is a low-cost alternative to inorganic
fertilizers, and it still helps farmers to achieve higher yields.
Farm yard manure is made from animal dung from either cow,
goat or from chicken droppings. If a farmer already has a kraal,
it is an easy and cost effective way to use animal dung to make
manure and use it in the garden.
It is good practice for farmers to always collect their animal dung
and heap it so there is always enough available to make manure.
How to make and apply farmyard manure:
1. Collect animal dung from the kraal.
2. Heap the dung in small, knee-height piles. It can be heaped
directly in the garden during the dry season when there are no
plants or it can be stored in a flat area closer to the kraal.
3. Leave it to properly decompose as this will give the best
results.
4. Before applying the manure, mix it with soil.
