CONSERVING FARM LAND BY NOT TURNING SOIL

These are times where land is not only scarce but extremely infertile. 

Use of dangerous chemicals, improper farming methods, and sheer recklessness has put humans at the precipice of barren land.

If different methods of farming are not employed land will be further degraded leading a food crisis of unimagined scales.

Enter Grassroots Trust an Organisation trying to change the habits of farmers across Zambia in order to conserve the land.

Their distinctive method? No ploughing or turning the soil.

Rolf Shenton from Grass Roots explains:

“By turning the soil, you are basically disturbing the organisms and insects that live in the soil, their tracks, their eggs, and basically their whole structure. The soil need insects and vice versa“. Shenton explains 

Turning or Ploughing the soil does more harm than good

Soil is basically mineral, calcium iron and other minerals that are chemically bound this means that plants do not have a way of accessing the nutrients which they need.

Micro-organisms and insects need carbohydrates. Microbes let off a weak acid which lets off particles that extract nutrients from soil which is essential for plants so basically nature does not need fertilizer.

The only thing you need to use to feed the soil is dead plants because they provide much needed nitrogen as well as prevent moisture from evaporating.

Shenton says that there has been a change of habits in Zambia, in the past there never used to be any burnings in the Country.

“In villages the only person you would find with matches was a headman because we protected the environment. We need to get back to not doing anything that ruins our land. “ he says adding that

A lot of farmers complain about drought saying that the rain has been sporadic and yet the rain levels have been basically the same for the 100 years.

It is actually the fertility of the soil which has dropped so the question should be if there is a lot of rain why is it not staying in the soil.

If this information is sent to small holder farmers a lot of difference would be made, our goal is to ensure that no Zambian farmer experiences a drought again.” Shenton says

A farmer that is proving that planting without turning the soil not only conserves the land but also doubles yields is Sebastian Scott the owner of Old Orchard Farm.

He says that they don’t turn the soil but they simply prepare the residue,

Scott narrates the process:

“The first thing we do is clear the residue that remained from the last harvest such as maize stalks and we open up planting rows. We maintain the residue as this reduces evaporation and when they rot it increases soil fertility.” He explains 

The rows are opened up between rows at 90 cm then a hole is made with a metal pipe which should dig 4 cm (there is a rubber at the base of the pipe to ensure it does not exceed 4 metres).

There should be a distance of about 35 to 40 cm between each hole which is basically one foot between each hole.

Two seeds are then dropped into each hole and manure on the side which alongside the soil is used to cover the soil.

Afterward the tall weeds are slashed making Scott’s process of planting very fast compared to other ways of farming.

He also plants velvet beans which help to nourish the soil as the velvet beans climb the maize slowly and also maximise the usage of space in the fields.

Scott with the help of the Grassroots trust has been conducting various trials at the Old Orchard.

“We are trying to see which crop varieties work well with increased pressure as well as which ones are disease resistant.” Scott said

Seeds in a hole

We reaped 170 maize bags per hectare without fertilizer using management of manure and green manure intercropping as well as 2 bags of urea.

Their system is basically conservation of the soil, management of money and it is resilient in case of drought.

According to Scott it produces goods results year in and year out.

The farm is also carrying out manure trials by testing sun dried manure brought in from other farms and its difference to Scotts manure.

Scott takes out his manure and heats it everyday in a way that maintains the manures moisture to see which type of manure works better. 

“We want to see how farmers can be sustainable using conservation, we try to maximise profit, and we have been managing.”

He feeds maize and soya beans to their pigs and other livestock: 45 pigs and cattle plus 150 hens.

Shenton  (in hat)and Scott explaining the concept to a Chief

He also grows bananas, citrus fruits and vegetables; the vegetables been an interesting reference point on the farm.

The farm relies on four basic principles to grow the vegetables:

The first principle is Soil Fertility which is enhanced by feeding the soil with green manure like black velvet.

The second principle is Crop rotation which is basically growing different crops according to their families. Therefore, after every three years you change the family of vegetables that you grow.

For example if you grow Onions (which are in the Amaryllidaceous family) wait for three years before you grow from the Brassicaceae family such as Cabbage or cauliflower.

The third principle is the use of D compost manure which has to be completely D composed, Compost is the use of dead plants by decomposing them (making them rot in the soil).

The fourth principle is Diversifying of crops by growing a different vegetable family between two similar families of vegetables.

If you are planting cabbages you can put a row of onions in between the two rows of cabbages as this ensures that insects do not cross over the two sections.

The farm also lets alfalfa plants have free reign in their gardens because the plant helps the soil have a lot of nitrogen.

Gardens generally require a different sort of manure for the soil that is why it is better to use quality compost made from organic material.

Old Orchard farm also uses dry line sprinklers for its irrigation but because they try as hard as possible to ensure that moisture does not evaporate during preparation, there little need for use of water every day.

So how does the Grassroots trust fit into all this?

According to Shenton the Grass roots trust was formed as a means of taking Conservation principles and sharing them with local farmers.

Shenton says that this type of farming saves farmers energy and uses less input which is why the Grassroots trust thinks Scott’s method is a great one.

“If people monitored the cattle, fish and wildlife better there would be enough money for people to be quite rich, it is already been done in Mwembeshi under the Mwembeshi National Conservation Society.”

Grassroots basically just acts as a mentor to get the best of Conservation for the forestry, fish and wildlife and livestock and share them with the community.

 

The pigs at Scotts farm notice the little piglet drinking water  from the tap

The results take some time but in Namibia it took 20 years to see a whole change but Shenton says that it might be faster in Zambia due to the insights gained from Namibia.

The main hurdle according to Shenton is for people to feel a sense of ownership and not rely too much on the Government.

With Scott as a reference point, it is possible to see what can be done to protect the soil and environment whilst still yielding good profits.

Conservation farming is the way to go for many thinking of venturing into farming.