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Green Manure Is Best Fertilizer The magazine for sustainable agriculture in Kenya Nr. 27 August 2007 Green manure is best fertilizer Mucuna or crotalaria or One of the most frequent requests we purple vetch (pictured) are receive from the farmers throughout the not just weeds. Used prop- country is to provide them with financial erly, they are the best way assistance for buying farm inputs. We to improve soil fertility. lack resources to help the farmers. As much as farmers are eager to improve The Organic Farmer their production and income, their request is a clear indication that they are unable Crop yields in sub-Sa- haran Africa have hardly to access credit in the local financial institutions. This is mainly because of the increased since the 1960s. many conditions attached to loans. The reason for this poor performance is the declin- As we have reported many times in ing soil fertility in the this column, there are many low-cost continent. On 85 percent methods farmers can use to improve their of the African farmland, production. One of these methods is to incorporate green manure legumes into the yearly loss of nutri- their cropping systems. These legumes ents is more than 30 kg contain important nutrients such as per hectare – much more nitrogen that help improve soil fertility. than on all other conti- Although many farmers already know nents. The poverty of the that legumes offer a simple and cheap African farmers is the method of improving soil productivity, main reason. Smallholder many have largely ignored this advice; farmers in the region do most of them burn bean residues after not have the means to threshing the beans. access inputs (such as Apart from the above-mentioned finan- fertilizers) and extension cial dilemma, behind this behaviour lies a services needed to raise their produc- worldwide is pinning much hope on structural problem. “Many rural house- tivity. At the same time, traditional the use of green manure legumes and holds and have neither the labour to methods of replenishing soil fertility, their addition of nitrogen to the soil devote to careful crop management nor such as fallowing or rotations, are no time to learn new techniques”, writes longer possible due to the diminish- TOF on air! Robert Tripp in an article for the British ing size of land holdings. On Thursday of every third Overseas Development Institute. Added A way out of this sad development week of the month, you can hear The to this is the fact that new technolo- is the use of green manure legumes to Organic Farmer on the Kiswahili Service of gies such as the green manure method improve soil fertility. Legumes such KBC from 8.30 pm to 8.45 pm. In the next may require some additional labour, even as lablab, desmodium and purple programme we will talk about income though it would be more than worth- vetch have many benefits, includ- generation with dairy goats, poultry and while. ing soil fertility replenishment, soil mushrooms. Tune in on Thursday 20th We would really encourage small-scale and water conservation and weed August, 2007, 8.30pm! farmers to open their minds and try new and pest control, not to forget their (the most important nutrient for crop methods that could help improve their use in human and animal nutrition. production). However, the change is yields. It is only those who are ready to Research done by the Kenya Agri- slow and is not seen for three to four adapt to new ideas that manage to survive cultural Research Institute (KARI) seasons. in the rapidly changing situation in the as well as by many other institutes agricultural sector. Instead of looking for According to KARI studies in solutions to their problems elsewhere, it the Kenyan highlands, legumes is time farmers tried to find the solution such as mucuna, lablab, crotalaria within their own farming systems and and canavalia, planted as a mono- practices. In other words, the farmers’ culture during one season, added 2 future lies in their own hands. – 15 tonnes of organic matter per Finally, we have one point to make: hectare and were contributing 35 - Many farmers’ groups are complaining 150 kg nitrogen under the same area. that they do not get our magazine from Research by scientists and farmers in their distribution institutions, or group Kisii discovered the benefit of these chairmen do not hand them out. We legumes in intercropping with maize: know that this may be a genuine problem. Before the use of green manure, the Those groups who are unable to get their The fruit fly can cause great loss to yields were 12 bags of maize per acre, monthly copies can write to us, giving farmers' mango trees. How can they and afterwards, the yield rose to 20 their full addresses so that we can send control this pest? Page 4 and 5 bags per acre. See pages 2 and 3 the magazine directly to them. Nr. 27 August 2007 OPINIONS Quote: There is, of course, a gold Mixed cropping is good practice mine or a buried treasure on every Planting different crops on the same mortgaged homestead. Whether the land has many advantages for the farmer ever digs for it or not, it is small-scale farmer. there, haunting his daydreams when the burden of debt is most unbear- The Organic Farmer able. A short while ago, farmer Zachary Quote: Life on a farm is a school of Mwarari sent us an SMS asking us to patience; you can’t hurry the crops or show the difference between inter- make an ox in two days. cropping, mixed cropping and asso- ciative cropping. There is no sharp Quote: No one hates his job so line to draw, as all three are somewhat heartily as a farmer. H.L. Mencken related, and all three methods play a major role in sustainable and organic Row intercropping Quote: Never answer a question agriculture. Since many farmers send from a farmer. Hubert H. Humphrey taller stems ensures good soil cover us questions on this issue, we feature and moisture retention. it together with the article on legumes • Leguminous crops (e.g. beans) may on page 3. be grown in association with crops Different needs or before crops which have a high magazine “Associative cropping” means the demand for nitrogen (e.g. maize). growing of two or more crops on • Perennial plants can be effectively the same field at the same time. This associated with seasonal plants. method relies on the simple fact that Benefit of associating crops different plant species, or even vari- • Due to the more efficient use of eties, have different needs for nutri- space (over and under the ground), ents, water, light, etc. Different plants and because of beneficial interactions require different amounts of nutrients between the mixed crops, this method to produce a good yield. Some plants permits more intensive production. have an especially high demand for • The yields are usually lower for each specific nutrients. While some plants crop than when the crops are planted like full sunlight, others prefer half- separately, but the total yield of the light. Plants growing in poor soils field is usually much higher when two prefer to be shaded more than plants or more crops are grown. growing under ideal soil conditions. • Diversification is important: Mixed There are two different ways to asso- cropping reduces the dependency on ciate crops: only one crop. If one crop fails, the Mixed intercropping: Two or more other one will provide food. Inter- crops are randomly sown at the same cropping spreads the economic risk time, and share the same space (row), among various crops. or can even be planted in the same • The different crops do not mature hole. at the same time. This means that Intercropping in lines: Two or more one crop will remain and provide the crops are sown at the same time in ȭȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ neighbouring lines in the same field crops are harvested. And, there is not (as Kenyan farmers do with maize and so much work in harvesting the entire beans). field at the same time. Since different plants have different • Soil quality improves when nitro- needs, the root competition should ȭ¡ȱ ȱ ǻȱ ȱ Ǽȱ ȱ be minimal, and the periods of most mixed with crops or when a green active nutrient uptake should not manure legume is planted for this coincide. A farmer has to carefully purpose (see page 3). select the plants that can be planted • Intercropping means that there is together (associated): less need for rotating crops from one • Crops with strong rooting systems season to the next. should be associated or alternated • A variety of crops reduce pest and with plants with a weak root growth. disease attack compared to single • Planting distances should be such cropping systems. The deterring or that nutrient competition between attracting effects of some plants helps plants can be minimized. to prevent pest attack on other crops. • Deep-rooted crops are best grown Planting garlic or onions next to other together with shallow-rooted plants to plants, for example, helps to repel maximize efficient use of space. pests such as nematodes; their smell Ȋȱ ¡ȱ ȱ ȱ ȭȱ makes it difficult for the insect to plants or creepers with plants with detect its target crop. Nr. 27 August 2007 Legumes are a cheap source of nitrogen When it comes to fertilizing the soil, nutrients quickly. This is different green manure legumes are best.Small- from crop residues, which decompose scale farmers rarely use this method, at a slower rate and will therefore however.
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