An Overview Of Our Solution
Farming results in excessive removal of nutrients from the soil resulting in degradation; while chemical usage increases energy consumption, reduction in biodiversity and pollution of the environment. Fallows, to restore soil productivity is limited due to shortage of arable lands. However, composting combined with green and animal manures can reduce degradation. Vermicomposting (done with large population of earthworms) produces high-quality humus, increases biological activity and affects pH value and phosphate availability. Composting crop residues and farm wastes; through decomposition with rumen content from abattoirs can also achieve this and perhaps more if plants with flavonoids e.g. African bush tea, are added. Flavonoids, in the compost could suppress weeds, pathogens and pests, and promote nodulation and nutrient cycling and thus healthier soils.
- Population Impacted: Check
- Continent: Africa
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Context Analysis
African farming is plagued by torrential rainfall, droughts, dry spells with high temperatures and low humidity, & high incidences of pests and diseases favoured by environmental factors conducive for their growth. Poor soil fertility generated from poor parent soils, result in poor vegetative growth & the inability to improve crop productivity substantially. Soil moisture retention is a problem to agricultural intensification & productivity improvement among smallholders as crop residues are often removed for fencing or burned as most of them don’t own livestock that can be used to process crop residue. If corralled some of the residues could still be lost as the animals may not remain on the farm long enough to get the full benefits of the manure produced from the residue. Thus proper management of crop residue is a prime factor for improved productivity. It can be supported with green &/or farm yard manure application, but management is prime to reduce external inputs.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Nutrients, mined from soils end up being burnt or wasted in market refuse. Nutrient loss leads to soil degradation; if returned to the farm, less manure will need to be added from external sources. Rumen contents of animals processed in abattoirs are also wasted, resulting in environmental pollution. If rumen contents are used by farmers to process crop residues & return the compost back to farms, it will reduce soil degradation & improve biodiversity, improve soil nutrients & moisture retention capacity & allow for crop intensification and improved yields. Farm produce taken to markets produce wastes that can be composted industrially to supplement that produced on the farm. In this way, it could also be possible to improve grazing lands as large quantity of compost could be available; such that animal production can be intensified with improved grazing lands. This could facilitate ranching among herders and reduce transhumance widely practiced; & the attendant forest degradation.
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
Nutrient extraction by crops can be significant, if only grains are harvested and the straw is worked into the soil or spread in stables and returned to the field as manure, the volumes taken from the system are significantly lower. Farmers should know that nutrients not replaced are lost to the soil and lead to productivity loss, and reduce such losses as much as possible. Produce taken to markets are more difficult to gather but can be collected by bigger companies and turned into compost that can be sold for use on the farm and grazing areas. Farms and grazing areas are not inexhaustible, though farmers and herders take the growing crops or rearing animals as cultural norms and are nonchalant of their impact on the soil and the environment. By adding composting into his farming process, he will appreciate the impact crop production has on the soil. If through composting market waste the quantities produced are enough to manure plantations, it could revive degraded forests for the benefit of all; (biodynamic agriculture for reclamation and cotton production in Egypt; is a case in mind). With green manuring and the application of Hyptis suaveolens for pest and diseases control (an earlier submission); ecological revival could be intensified. Incorporating Hyptis into the compost could suppress weeds, pathogens and pests, and promote nodulation and nutrient cycling (Felix Dakora).
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
Agricultural wastes – crop residues, household and market wastes, waste from slaughter houses; are environmental pollutants and nutrients removed from that the soil; causing degradation if not replenished. Like vermicomposting, returning residues to soil requires processing -composting both crop and animal waste. It can be carried out from small- to large- scale which will enable farmers to reactivate degraded lands and reclaim lost vegetation. Bio-remediation of sick soils will also be possible as plants with flavonoids can suppress weeds, pathogens and pests, and promote nodulation and nutrient cycling can be added Agricultural wastes – crop residues, household and market wastes, waste from slaughter houses; are environmental pollutants and nutrients removed from that the soil; causing degradation if not replenished. Like vermicomposting, returning residues to soil requires processing -composting both crop and animal waste. It can be carried out from small- to large- scale which will enable farmers to reactivate degraded lands and reclaim lost vegetation. Bio-remediation of sick soils will also be possible as plants with flavonoids can suppress weeds, pathogens and pests, and promote nodulation and nutrient cycling can be added to the compost. Farmers can be taught how to compost but market wastes will involve organizations for waste gathering and processing.
Describe your implementation
Farmers are aware that soils lose their productive capacity, necessitating fallows to restore the soil; but may not be aware that their cultivation of crops is responsible for it. The same is true for herders who use the forests without any improvement.
The first task will be to show the link between dwindling production levels and their activities and
To proffer solutions – how soils and vegetation can be improved through improving the health of soil and the environment by improving biological health of the soil and the biodiversity of the environment.
Discuss their active participation through crop residue management and ensuring that market wastes are also collected for further processing. This can be achieved by having collection points where industrialists can have machineries to sort and bag wastes for composting.
Since discussing the idea with colleagues some have taken the idea home and the composting of farm and crop residues is finding acceptability with good results.
Market waste is the problem and may require the intervention of government or some industrialists. If achieved, soil fertility management among smallholders will be taken care of without resort to inorganic sources.
The core principles to improving soil fertility using this practice will include the cultivation of legumes and the clipping/thinning management of fodder for green manure, the use of Hyptis to protect the crops, the composting of crop residues and returning same to the soil; and the incorporation of Hyptis (or plants with flavonoids) in compost; for the suppression of weeds, pathogens and pests, and promote nodulation and cycling; to further improve the health of the soil.
External connections
The environment in which a crop is grown plays an important role in determining the productivity of that crop.
Manure additions increase N and P mobilization and absorption fourfold compared with fertilized plots, indicating that organic residue additions can activate root functions, improving the synchrony of nutrient demand with nutrient availability in crops. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) demonstrated this with different management practices: optimally sparse populations, established with very young seedlings carefully transplanted, intermittent flooding of paddies, with active soil aeration and with soil organic matter enhanced as much as possible (Barison and Uphoff, 2011). The most evident phenotypic difference (from the management practices) was in plant root growth, assessed by the root-pulling resistance (RPR), a summary measure of root system development.
Legume companion crops, through either clipping or thinning management and incorporation of fodder obtained as green manure, can improve the health and fertility of the soil (Odion and Singh, 2005, Odion et al., 2007); and detoxifies acid soils because humic substances absorb toxic cations, resulting in their immobilization and detoxification.
Ecological intensification in the tropics will be possible if green manures and composting, to improve humus content of soils are practiced. Prof. Norman Uphoff of Cornell University, is an adviser/consultant.
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
As hinted above the idea of intensification among smallholders in the tropics became a burden as I read the system of crop intensification by Uphoff. So the idea is new and we are only putting it together with the clipping/thinning management of legume companion crops and the use of Hyptis as a prophylactic for crop production among smallholders in organic procedures for crop production. Composting is the newest concept in the organic procedure and pictures of what I did last year are attached.
Vermicomposting is popular where earthworms are numerous the process; producing high quality humus compounds. Abattoir wastes, unlike earthworms are, available in many regions (causing pollution), but can be mixed with crop residue to produce highly valuable compost to improve humus content and biological activity of soils. Mixed with green manure and flavonoids, it could suppress weeds, pests and pathogens, and promote nodulation and nutrient cycling.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Composting crop residues will reduce burning of such residues with attendant pollution, it will improve soil fertility; without chemical intervention, result in healthy soils and improve crop intensification. This will improve crop productivity and produce more fodder for animal production to reduce the use of grains in animal feeds and thus methane production. Composting of market waste will also stop the use of such for land filling with its attendant pollution, while abattoir waste, used in the compost; would have polluted the environment further if grazing areas are fertilized with compost, intensification of animal production is possible, breaking the cycle of poverty and improving dietary intake of smallholder families.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
Healthy soils will result not only in improved food production but will also give healthier food quality with better balanced nutrients as the supply of nutrients to the crop could be better as the principle of feeding the soil while the soil feeds the crops is at play. High humus content in the soil will result in higher retention of soil moisture and avoid runoff and pollution of ground-water with chemicals. Soil and environmental biodiversity will improve, and since materials used in the production of compost is sourced locally, everyone can participate as well as pass on the knowledge for sustainability. If people appreciate the benefits of compost making, I am sure if will be expanded to composting of market waste; facilitating the development of local industries for the management of such wastes. This will result in employment of educated youths, economic development, improved food security and nutrition and a healthier population.
Sustainability
The drudgery in farming is mostly to improve productivity; and though weeds, pests and diseases contribute to reducing yields the greatest contributor is the soil’s fertility. If the farmer has a way to sustain the soil’s fertility, reducing weed infestation will not be a serious bottleneck. As for pests and diseases, the use of Hyptis (either as a prophylactic or to repel/control such attacks) will maintain a high level of productivity. These practices can be undertaken with little capital intervention, which most farmers are capable of doing.
Return on investment
I have worked on the agronomic efficiency of crop mixtures using organic procedures with green manure incorporation and it has shown that green manure application is an efficient way to improve the productivity of the soil. Several workers have also reported higher production levels indicating a high level of return on investment. Initial costs are a pit and bags that can be reused many times; others are labour to gather and spread the manure on the farm. It could be largely family labour.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
Composting is practiced the world over, therefore it can be replicated among smallholders everywhere. The basic requirement is ability to gather crop residues in a pit and to properly cover the pit with bags/polythene and to stir the content using forks or rakes until it is decomposed and ready for use on the field. This preliminary trial was carried out as shown in the pictures using buckets; how much abattoir waste to add to certain crop residues may need to be determined and the effect of different environmental conditions on rate of decomposition. Hand gloves and tools to reduce the size of crop residues (to mimic chewing by animals) could facilitate decomposition.