Dr. Miwa Arai, a senior researcher at JIRCAS and a member of the SATREPS VaryAla Project (Output 2), traveled to Madagascar in December for field surveys and meetings with local counterparts.

During the trip, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Radioisotopes, University of Antananarivo (LRI), a counterpart institution of the project, field trials were established in two rural communities with contrasting soil types and climatic conditions to evaluate the effects of vermicompost on crop production and soil environments. Vermicompost was applied, and sowing was carried out at the trial sites.
In addition, discussions were held with LRI regarding the management of the field trials and future sampling plans. Progress of other ongoing experiments and their future schedules were also reviewed and discussed. Furthermore, the team visited LRI facilities to observe vermicompost production activities and ongoing pot experiments.