Living Soils
A fundamental concept running through the discussions on global food prices, whether it is about increasing food production, raising soil fertility levels or rehabilitating degraded land, is the need for healthy soils. This issue of the LEISA Magazine revisits the importance of healthy and living soils as the basis for sustainable agriculture, healthy people and healthy economies.
LEISA Magazine • 24.2 • June 2008
Table of contents:
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1 - 1Cover
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2 - 3
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4 - 5written by ILEIA editorial teamWhether we realise it or not, soil affects each of us in our everyday lives. The food we eat, the farming systems, the foundations of our houses, the roads we walk on – all are affected by the state of the soil.
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6 - 8Farmers are more likely to adopt and adapt improved soil management strategies if their efforts lead to an immediate economic benefit. An encouraging policy environment, as well as farmer organisation also stimulates the adoption of conservation practices. In Mexico, farmers are adapting their maize-based cropping systems to conservation agriculture, leading to both higher profits and soil conservation.
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9 - 11When agricultural researchers visit farms in order to gather information for their research programmes, farmers rarely get proper feedback. Research information on scientific concepts such as soil fertility and nutrient balances is often considered too abstract for them. Researchers in Kenya returned to farmers to discuss their results in the context of Farmer Field Schools. Through the workshops that ensued, they managed to find a common language to bridge the communication gap.
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12 - 13written by Didier Orange , Tran Duc Toan , Nguyen Duy Phuong , Nguyen Van Thiet , Paulo Salgado , Clement Floriane , Le Hoa BinhGetting farmers to adopt new technologies to address soil erosion and fertility problems is not easy. In Vietnam, a multidisciplinary research project to improve soil management in traditional mountainous agricultural farming systems managed to attract farmers’ interest and stop soil erosion. This success stems from encouraging farmers, extensionists and researchers to jointly define and implement the project. Their different aims could be followed simultaneously: scientific results for researchers, better agricultural practice for extension workers, and economic success and free choice for farmers.
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14 - 15written by Pedro Oyarzun , Máximo OchoaIntegrating cover crops and green manures helps farmers rehabilitate degraded soils in highland areas. In Ecuador, farmers experimented with this conservation practice. They found that it improved their farming system in many ways, increased productivity in their main crop, decreased weeding time, provided them with an extra crop (for food, fodder, marketing), besides rehabilitating their soils.
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16 - 17Excessive use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides has affected soil and water quality in the Jaffna peninsula, Sri Lanka. Students from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Jaffna have been learning about green manures from farmers, and how they have been used to improve soils. Green manures were also used successfully to rehabilitate salinated soils affected by the tsunami. These and other organic practices are now being promoted with and by farmers.
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18 - 19written by L. Narayana Reddy , Ken GillerTo help understand different viewpoints on the effectiveness of EM, we asked two professionals for their opinion. Dr. Narayana Reddy is a prize-winning organic farmer (who made the transition from conventional agriculture in 1980), writer and trainer from Bangalore, India. Dr. Ken Giller is professor of Plant Production Systems at the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands, and has extensive experience in soil microbiology research with microbial inoculants.
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20 - 21Learning groups, composed of community members, university researchers, NGOs and government extension workers, have proved effective at increasing food production and incomes in a rural community in South Africa. Specifically, trench beds have been successfully adopted. Results, as measured by members of these learning groups, include improved soil nutrient and moisture levels, as well as economic benefits. This learning process is now spreading to other communities.
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22 - 23written by Karl NorthThe main weakness in sustainable grassland farming in humid ecosystems is the leaching of soil nutrients below the root zone of most forage species. Nature’s solution is a tree-dotted savanna – a system where the deeper roots of trees bring up leached minerals, via leaf and fruit drop. You can re-design pasture farms to copy such natural systems, as this example from the Northeast United States shows.
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24 - 24written by Frank LöwenMany rural people in Tajikistan cannot afford to regularly buy products like fuel and agrochemical inputs. Instead, they rely on locally available yet increasingly scarce natural resources. One result is that large amounts of animal dung are used as fuel for cooking and heating. Simple modifications of local cookstoves are supporting rural communities to use local resources more efficiently, in the process improving soil rehabilitation.
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25 - 27written by Santaram S OinamNight-soil (human waste) has been considered a valuable agricultural resource since ancient times. When handled safely, its use can contribute to reducing soil degradation and water scarcity in the areas like the Lahaul valley. Despite such known benefits its use is now decreasing with modernisation. Recognising this, the G.B. Pant Institute in India has been taking steps to promote the use of night-soil as one of the organic farming practices promoted in the region.
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26 - 27written by Patrick E M MwalukisaFarmers in Ileje district rarely used night-soil, believing it to be unsafe. One farmer’s efforts started a change in thinking and now night-soil is a valued commodity. As benefits have been realised, changes in practice and attitudes, as well as improvements to soils, have been seen.
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28 - 28In semi arid areas such as the Sahelian zone of Africa, many soils have become severely degraded. One extreme form is the bare and crusted soil, which is virtually productively "dead". In Burkina Faso, farmers have responded by applying mulch to atract termites that then help to rehabilitate the soil. A research project shows the importance of termites in breaking up hardened soil and increasing water infiltration. The land became productive enough to farm within months.
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29 - 29written by WardjitoFarmers have been using chemical fertilizers and pesticides since the Green Revolution arrived in Paseh village in Central Java. Over time, however, they became aware that their soil was becoming harder and more infertile. With increasing costs of chemical inputs, farmers began to think more carefully about their soil fertility practices. One farmers’ group started experimenting with Natural Farming methods, with successful results.
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30 - 31written by Ken GillerTen years ago, soyabeans were promoted with smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe to help offset problems of soil fertility, introduce diversity into cropping systems dominated by maize production, and increase incomes. A mix of soyabeans can now be seen in most smallholder farming areas in suitable agroecologies throughout the country. This success is due to a solid multi-institutional effort that included establishment of local input facilities, as well as market and transport opportunities.
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32 - 32written by Malamba Clement MwangosiSmallholder maize farmers in Ileje, Tanzania, became the focus of attention of an international soil fertility improvement project. The project recommended a new way of cultivation that included moving from ridges to flat beds, and extended loans for external inputs. Although yields had improved, farmers preferred to go back to their traditional system once the project had ended. This Field Note looks into the reasons behind this decision.
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36 - 36written by Janice JigginsThe recent global food crisis shows that agro-technology and markets alone cannot reduce hunger. A ground-breaking three-year study recently concluded that the agriculture sector should use the know-how of smallholder farmers better.
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