Part of a demonstration of the Fertilizer Programme on irrigated rice. This very healthy growth is at Leopoldina in the south east of Minas Gerais. - - FFHC/Action for Development of the Fertilizer Programme. FFHC/Action for Development of the Fertilizer Programme, for a period of five years in Brazil, with an approximate donor allocation of $450,000. The project is carried out in conjunction with the Government and UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The object of the fertilizer programme, now in operation in 22 developing countries, is to introduce the use of fertilizer to farmers to improve their crops and increase the country?s economy. Farmers are often skeptical of new methods, and in Brazil, as in other countries, demonstrations are used to convince farmers of the importance of using fertilizer. A farmer is given fertilizer and selected seed for planting a portion of his field, and the remainder is planted in the traditional way. When the crops mature, neighbouring farmers are brought in to see the spectacular difference between the two plantings and the improvements achieved by using selected seed and fertilizer. Simple research-orientated trials are also carried out.