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Maendeleo Vijijini
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Most farmers practice conventional farming with fertiliser
application and over-production of similar crops across regions, which
have yields far below potential productivity levels.
The
conventional cropping system has several challenges such as poor
ecological diversity, soil and water pollution, soil erosion and loss of
soil fertility as well as pests and diseases.
As
such, an integrated system of agricultural production is highly
recommended. Here there is better resource use from livestock (manure),
crop residue recycling, diversified cropping systems (legumes, cereals
and agro-forestry), which involves lower use of inputs such as
fertiliser, pesticides and high retention of macro and micro nutrients.
Also,
increased productivity and profitability will be enhanced by timely
farm operations and agronomic practices (ploughing, weeds, pest control
and post-harvest operations) which will significantly reduce economic
losses and ecological problems.
One must understand
interactions between ecology, inputs, residue degradation, cultivation
and farm enterprise rotations (crops and livestock), to influence crop
and livestock productivity and income at large.
SOIL HEALTH
Knowledge
on soil health (mineral composition and nutrient available) is key.
This should be achieved through soil analysis which gives results
quantitatively and qualitatively on quality of soil (type, organic
matter content, pH, major and minor nutrients and carbon levels).
The
results will equip farmers with knowledge on soil and possible
recommendation on whether to amend by liming to reduce acidity, increase
organic matter (residues/manures), rotate or leave land fallow to allow
complete natural rehabilitation for two to three years.
Importance
of incorporating legumes in cropping system is crucial. For centuries,
common beans, cowpeas, chickpeas, Fababeans, groundnuts, peas, pigeon
peas and soybeans have been used to improve soil fertility by adding
nitrogen to it.
Cereals such as maize, wheat, barley, sorghum and millets don’t have this ability.
Also, other leguminous shrubs that fix nitrogen and should be incorporated in the farming system are Velvet bean and Crotalaria. Nitrogen fixing trees should also be included as agroforesty in an integrated system of farming. The agricultural officer around you can advise on these trees.
Also, other leguminous shrubs that fix nitrogen and should be incorporated in the farming system are Velvet bean and Crotalaria. Nitrogen fixing trees should also be included as agroforesty in an integrated system of farming. The agricultural officer around you can advise on these trees.
Incorporation
of legumes into crop rotations increases yields of subsequent crops in
many cropping ecologies being more in less fertile soils. Beyond the
advantage of soil fertility, legumes also offer livestock rich feeds.
Crop rotation and intercropping with legumes, thus, need to be
frequently adopted.
Apart from use of sustainable
inputs such as legume rotation, farmers should use low cost resources
and techniques to reduce losses and increase yields.
This
include the use of waste organic matter from animals and crops to
enrich the soil; pest and disease forecasting through regular scouting;
biological and cultural pest control; living mulches as mechanical weed
control; conservation tillage (no or minimal tillage and specialised
innovative cultural techniques like intercropping, strip cropping, under
sowing, trap crops and double-row cropping.
ALTERNATE CROPS
It
is important to alternate crops of different root depths to ensure
efficient nutrient utilisation. Cropping systems incorporate two main
important features; cropping calendar and the cropping pattern.
The
cropping calendar shows the duration of each crop grown within the
season as well as the planting and harvesting dates. Meanwhile, the
cropping pattern, on the other hand, is a rotation plan in which the
various crops grown are to follow.
It is advisable to
design a cropping pattern for crops grown for more than two years on a
given land. This will lead to better yields and increase income per unit
area within the specified period by growing crops well-suited to the
soil and climatic factors.
This rotation plan factors
in the size of land, each crop nutritional and moisture requirement,
fertilisation demand for each crop and, most importantly, the
sustainability of the farming venture.
This ensures
that all resources and inputs (labour, power, equipment and machines)
are properly utilised throughout the year to minimise cost of
production.
A farmer must have knowledge on the main
inputs before he can design fully integrated cropping systems that
minimise farm losses due to poor planning, produce good yields and also
decrease environmental problems (soil erosion and fertility losses).
This
will lead to a sustainable farming practice and management system that
will influence overall production and productivity in both short and
long term.
Jared Alfred Ochieng and Prof Paul Kimurto are crop experts, Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University
NMG
NMG
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