Market gardening: A concept worth trying for farmers 

A lot of people are interested in small scale agriculture simply because the world needs more farmers.

Every now and then, there is a breathless rush of stories about a “new” way to get more in less space.

When the Songhai farming model was introduced in Uganda in 2017 by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development at a demonstration site in Kampiringisa Mpigi District, it boasted of regenerative ecological practices that boost soil fertility while increasing yields.

Market gardening 
Market gardening is one of the many practices demonstrated at the farm. This technique involves relatively small scale intensive production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, sold directly to farmers’ markets, or to local grocery stores and restaurants. The market gardener can also maintain a sales site on their land and sells directly to customers from the farm.

Market gardening is so important to the local food movement. Part of the appeal of this type of farming to consumers is that the produce is organic.
The concept of market gardening is remarkably simple. A farmer basically grows edible crops in raised beds to allow better drainage and suppression of weeds. The system is based on a simple grid whereby you make 30-inch beds with 18-inch pathways then you plant each block, zone or cell separately with different crops. Spacing is determined by the plant’s overall size at maturity and speed of growth.

The system is ideal for crops such as lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, amaranthus, peppers, lettuce, cabbage, onions and beetroots, among others.

The idea of market gardening is to maximise production from the garden while selling fresh produce on a regular basis without middlemen.

Benefits
Conventional farms can return as little as a few hundred shillings per acre, but market gardens are highly efficient and can return tens of thousands of shillings in the same amount of space.

Philip Mubiru, an agronomist at the Songhai Model Site explains that the idea is ideal where a farmer feels frustrated with wasted space. In conventional gardening practices, linear systems leave a lot of space for machine operations yet on smaller plots, such spaces are important for making money.

On top of that, farmers waste valuable time weeding the space between the rows, which ends up wasting fertiliser and water.

“One can make a decent livelihood with a well-established commercial garden with good markets on small acreage,” says Mubiru.

Like the square-metre gardening technique, the plants are so closely planted that they form a canopy, which reduces the need to weed.

The gardens have manageable workload. “One does not have much to do on any one day because you produce food all year round rather than a glut of something coming all at once,” he says.

Market gardening is premised on crop rotation, which as many farmers understand, makes better use of all parts of the soil. For example, plants with tap roots such as carrots, take their nourishment deep in the soil while plants with fibrous roots such as lettuce feed near the surface.

Cropping system
Taking into account the market is helpful in deciding the specific crops to plant.
“All the planning is determined by what the market demands,” says Mubiru. The most important element Mubiru points to is making crop plans. He says crop plans help  the farmer to know what to plant and when, know how much to plant, and for record keeping. One should map out his garden on a piece of paper in what is called zones. 

Mubiru explains that normally zone one is what you put closer to your house because you visit it more often. The idea is to minimise foot traffic on the farm.
The gardens should then be grouped into field blocks which eases crop rotation. “You should put heavy feeders or light feeders together and follow the best practices of rotation in a four-year cycle,” he suggests.

A farmer should prepare permanent raised beds. During ploughing, the farmer should carefully remove residue from previous harvests, rocks and pebbles early in the season to be able to make permanent raised beds. Effort must be taken to make the soil well aerated. Mubiru explains that the desired beds are 30 inches wide with 18-inch pathways to make it more accessible with wheelbarrows during fertiliser application and harvesting.

He suggests that the beds can be standardised to about 100 feet long to ease installation of drip irrigation lines in case they must be applied.

Since this is a bio-intensive farming system that focuses on maximum yields from a minimum acreage, crops are tightly planted to retain moisture and suppress weeds. The soil structure must be well worked over time to allow proper root growth.

In the cropping pattern, carrots and radish can be spaced in five rows at 1.5cm, beetroots (three rows at 2cm) and spinach four rows at six inches, among others. In most instances, vertical gardening ideas can work well with this system of farming in order to utilise vertical spaces. The farmer and his/her family do much of the work. Occasionally, if a farm is large, workers might be hired on a temporary basis to harvest fruit or for other tasks. According to Mubiru, the garden can be worked on full time by as few as two people.

Fertilisation
At the Kampiringisa model site, farmers are taught how to make manure. The Songhai model of “total production, zero waste,” is interdependent. The by-products generated by livestock, litter and droppings, are composted to be used as chemical fertilisers to fertilise and maintain the life of the soil.

Mubiru explains that good management practices of compost should be practiced including covering the pile to avoid leaching of its nutrients.

He recommends the application of a fertilisation plan that takes into account the weather patterns. “It is very good to save money by making your own compost,” he stresses. He adds that between six and seven wheelbarrows of manure can be applied per 10-metre bed. Using a shovel and gardening fork, the farmer diligently spreads it over the bed.