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Comparing organic and conventional farming systems in Africa - which is more resilient?

Fri, 09/21/2012 - 09:43 — De-Registered User
“Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) are recommended methods of farming in Africa” says Anne Muriuki from the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute. She presented during the session, cropping systems to maintain soil quality and available soil moisture on the topic Resilience of organic versus conventional farming systems in the tropical Africa. She highlighted that a new change has been brought about by climate change which results in droughts and floods. She recommended farming methods as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Nutrient Management (INM). In a contrast, she mentioned that the reality of farming however requires farmers to make use of synthetic inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides which are expensive and beyond the reach of most small holder farmers. Thus this results in food and nutrition insecurity, rural poverty as well as soil fertility depletion and land degradation. As its objectives, the research compared organic versus conventional farming in relation to a) Quality and quantity of crop products b) Resource use efficiencies c) Sustainability of the agro-ecological system The overall aim of the research is to disseminate findings to stakeholders The study was done in Kari-Thika for a duration of 20years using a Randomized Complete Block Design with a three year rotation of maize, vegetables and legumes. The results for 2007 indicated superior performance of conventional treatments which was attributed to ease of nutrient availability. However, by 2011, the performance of organic system was comparable to conventional system due to accumulation of nutrients (P and K) and favorable pH. In conclusion, the source of nutrients supplied in 2007 played a critical role in determining yields in the initial year (conversion phase) while the organic system was more efficient at ensuring soil fertility build-up (sustainability of the agro-ecosystem) by the year 2011.

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