Embedded Files
ADOPTING CONSERVATION agriculture may mean:
Your production should increase, so you will need more labour to harvest and handle the crop, and more room to store the grain.
The soil will hold more moisture, so you may be able to grow an extra crop in the dry season.
You may need new types of inputs: cover crop seed, herbicides, special equipment, etc. You may need credit to buy these.
Poor Weed Suppression: A. trébol rojo; B. chícharo de invierno australiano, C. canola, D. Tréboles Good Weed Suppression: E. avena; F. centeno; G. canola; H. avena, chícharo, trébol, centeno, canola, rábano
Harvesting
When harvesting, make sure that the crop stalks and leaves are left on the ground as mulch.
Cut maize and other tall plants such as sunflower at about 20 cm high, leaving the roots in the ground.
Old roots in the soil improve the soil texture and structure, and the standing stalks show clearly where to apply herbicide and plant the next crop.
When cleaning or processing the harvest, use the waste to make compost, or put it back on the soil as mulch.
Soil cover
A PERMANENT YEAR-ROUND soil cover is central to conservation agriculture.
protection + reduces soil erosion + stops soil surface sealing + suppresses weeds + increases soil moisture + improves soilstructure + biological properties + roots development
Like an umbrella
Soil cover protects the soil and microorganisms that live in it from the heat of the sun and the impact of rain. A good farmer gives her soil an umbrella to keep it healthy. Only a healthy soil can produce a good crop.
There are two main types of soil cover:
Living plant material: crops and cover crops.
Mulch, or dead plant material: crop residues and prunings from trees and shrubs.
You will often use a combination of mulch and living plants to keep the soil covered.
To obtain a good soil cover, you should leave crop residues such as maize and sorghum stalks in the field. You might also be able to add mulch from outside the field: for example, you can cut grass from nearby, or bring in leaves and prunings from trees and shrubs. They will decompose after a while, so you will have to replace them regularly.
In addition, you can plant a cover crop, either during the cropping season, or afterwards to cover the whole field. During the cropping season itself, the crops themselves act as soil cover. An intercrop of tall plants (such as maize) and low-growing plants (such as beans) makes a good cover.
Feed the soil to feed the people
Cover crops are the food of the soil. Only a healthy soil can provide the necessary food to the people. Soil has life, which needs to be fed.
Farmer slogan, SwazilandCover crops
They are normally grown during the dry season or as intercrops. They may be allowed to grow throughout the cropping season, or they may be killed and left on the soil surface as mulch.
Vigna spp.
Cultivo de Plátano Sustentable (Manejo de Canavalia ensiformis como abono verde)
Small-scale farmers prefer a cover crop which fits into their normal cropping system and which has multiple purposes:
Edible seeds and vegetables
Soil fertility
Animal fodder
Firewood/fencing material
Weed suppression
Medicines
First, check which cover crops grow well in your area.
If you live in an area with little rainfall, select a cover crop that grows quickly, such as cowpea, desmodium, lablab, lucerne, mucuna, or pigeonpea.
Then check how much work each cover crop will need: for land preparation before planting, weeding, and producing and harvesting the seeds.
Make sure that the cover crop does not interfere with the main crop.
For example, avoid growing a tall cover crop that might shade the main crop.
You can also prevent the cover crop from interfering with the main crop by planting it later
A maize-Cajanus association in the middle of the maize cropping cycle
When they die, some cover crops rot quicker than others.
Legumes decompose more quickly than grasses.
A mixture of legumes and grasses is best to ensure a lasting soil cover.
You can plant cover crops in many ways
Intercropping
Planting at the same time as the main crop.
Relay cropping
Planting when you weed the main crop.
Sequential planting
Planting after you harvest the main crop.
Mulch
Mulch may come from different sources:
Mulch from a cover crop
Some types of cover crop produce a thick layer of living and dead plant material on the ground.
Mulch from crop residues
In some areas, it may not be possible to grow a cover crop.
Residues from different crops decompose at different rates.
Farmers in many areas remove as many of the residues as possible so they can use it as livestock feed or thatch.
Mulch from trees and shrubs
Trees and shrubs have other advantages: soil estructure + shade + prevent erosion + multipurpose + fruit + bees
Mulch from other plant materials
If you do not have enough mulch. You can slash vegetation growing around the field. Make sure you do not spread weeds or cause other problems.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse