Farmer’s Diary: If only we could use our soil sustainably
Practices such as tree planting and mulching are good for soil conservation. Tree planting is good for rain formation and soil protection and enrichment. Mulching protects the soil from direct sunlight, and therefore supports its water retention. PHOTO BY MICHAEL J. SSALI
High food prices are an issue of great concern these days not only here in Uganda but in many other parts of the world too. High prices are often linked to scarcity of commodities and in Africa, where if food production is at its lowest, the problem is much bigger. In his address to the Royal African Society in London on March 30, 2011 former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan said about 240 people in sub-Saharan Africa cannot eat well enough for their health and well being. He described African agricultural statistics as grim. “Africa is the only one of the five continents which fails to grow enough food to feed its citizens. On average, cereal yields in Africa are a quarter of those of other developing regions – and have barely increased in 30 years. Only six per cent of Africa’s crop land is irrigated compared with 40 per cent in Asia. African farmers use less than one tenth of the amount of fertiliser used in South East Asia. Per capita food production and agricultural labour productivity also remain remarkably low. This is not because of lack of effort by African farmers but lack of knowledge, resources and infrastructure to support their hard work.
“The African farmer continues to rely on traditional ‘slash and burn’ and rain-fed farming that may have been adequate when populations were lower but cannot meet today’s increased demands for food. The result is the severe degradation of land which keeps yields low and threatens its future sustainability and bio-diversity.”
The African small holder farmer of course faces other challenges such as the failure by most of our governments to make adequate budgetary allocation to agriculture. Yet 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa. The ordinary African farmer has no easy access to even simple irrigation equipment or quality seeds and animal breeds. Most of our small holder farmers lack the knowledge to use the soil sustainably in order to reverse the severe land degradation that Kofi Annan referred to in that memorable address titled: “Transforming Africa’s Role in the Global Food Security System.”
Soil is the main medium which supports plant growth. We must then ensure that the soil is at all times capable of providing plants with enough water and plant nutrients to sustain favourable conditions for seed germination and over-all plant growth and development. Not all of us are lucky enough to be practicing agriculture in areas where the soil is naturally fertile. Many are settled where the soil was once good but has been degraded over the years thanks to bad farming practices. While the following simple practices may not be the one-size-fits-all solution, they are the most recommended for general soil fertility maintenance by most agriculturalists. If every smallholder farmer kept some animals or birds whose manure could continuously be applied on the soil, it would make a big difference in food production. Farmers are strongly encouraged to base their crop farming activities on the continuous use of green manure, farm yard manure and compost. These are normally available to the small holder farmer right on the farm in the form of annual crops like left-over legumes, rotten residues – dung, urine, coffee husks from the hen house, and grass used as animal bedding. When such manure decomposes, it improves the humus content in the soil and facilitates the increase of beneficial organisms that should live naturally in the soil to further enrich it.
Another recommended practice is the use of organic material such as grass, banana leaves, tree branches, maize stalk, or shrub branches to cover the soil. The practice, also known as mulching, protects the soil from direct sunlight, and therefore supports its water retention. When it rains running water will not easily sweep away the soil in what is known as soil erosion since the mulch will be holding the soil in place and protecting it against strong rain drops. Upon decomposition the mulch adds plant nutrients to the soil. The practice controls weed growth if care is taken to ensure that no seeded or green sprouting mulch is used.
Planting trees within recommended spacing is good for the soil since the tree roots help to prevent soil erosion. They attract rainfall and their leaves add organic matter and plant nutrients to the soil when they drop off the trees and decompose on the ground.
But when all is said and done, high food prices should serve as the stimulus to increased farming entrepreneurship. If the food prices are high the farmer as the producer should think out ways of taking advantage of the rising food prices to produce more and to earn more.
