Tropentag 2019 - Student blog - soil quality

Cowpea is the best responding species to Biochar application - Bohdan Lojka

De-Registered User — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 20:56:08 +0000

Bohdan Lojka presented on the topic “Amazonian dark earths - potential of biochar for their recreation. He introduced that Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) or Terra preta are; anthropogenic soils which are highly fertile spots in rather unfertile lands. He further explained that biochar is a type of charcoal which is carbon rich and stable. Biochar is known to increase soil nutrient content, increase pH, improve microbial activity, increase water retention, reduce leaching and improve plant growth as well as yields. The research found that majority of the farmers know about the benefits of biochar but do not use it because it is expensive to use on entire farms. It was also found that biochar application for rice production produced no significant differences in biomass production while cowpea was found to be the best responding species to biochar application. In the case of cowpea, an application of biochar and manure together provided the best results. In conclusion, Mr. Lojka recommended that further long term experiments are required to better understand the impact of biochar on soil quality and crop yields.

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

De-Registered User — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 07:43:36 +0000

“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.

Scientists discuss cropping systems for maintaining soil quality and available soil moisture at Tropentag 2012!

De-Registered User — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:57:23 +0000

The session was moderated by Ronald F. Kuhne from the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany who introduced the speakers and welcomed all participants. The lead speaker was Birthe Paul from the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), who presented on the topic, “Impact of tillage and residue management on soil quality and crop productivity”. Birthe mentioned that 80% of soils in Sub-Saharan Africa are inherently low in soil fertility and that 65% of the soils are degraded by human activity. She further added that there is stagnating crop yields pegged at 1 tha-1 while 30 % of the population is affected by food shortage. According to her, Conservation Agriculture has the advantages of continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover and diversification of crops grown in sequence or association and this potentially improves soil aggregate ability, soil aggregate organic carbon and crop yields. The study objectives were outlined as; 1. To bridge knowledge gaps by providing rigorous empirical evidence 2. To capture medium term effects of tillage and residue management on – soil aggregate stability, soil organic carbon and crop yields.