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Retain Nutrients in Stored Manure
Nitrogen is an important plant food that is found in both manure and urine. But if the manure lies around in small piles on the ground in the sun, wind, and rain, much of the nitrogen in it will be washed away or lost into the air. Other plant foods will also be wasted. It’s…
Participatory Experiments with Green Manure
Have you heard…? From Guatemala The Boca Costa of Sololá, Guatemala is located at the base of the Santo Tomas volcano. The main crops in the region are coffee and bananas (800 to 1400 metres), corn, and beans. The corn growing land is sloping, and soil erosion is a major problem. Maize yields in the…
Grow Your Own Living Fence
Save and edit this resource as a Word document Living fences are rows of trees or shrubs planted together to form a barrier. They are useful for farmers who need fences to mark boundaries, separate fields, keep animals from straying, form windbreaks, or support vines. Living fences are a good choice for many reasons. They…
Participant Notes
A Good Way to Grow Trees Suwaiba Suleiman Isah Current Affairs Officer Katsina State Radio and Television Service Nigeria The Nigerian Association of Women Journalists started a successful campaign to plant trees in parts of the country where the desert is creeping in. The people start planting at the beginning of the rainy season, so…
Putting Worms to Work for You
Farmers have always known that the earthworms in their fields improve the soil. But you can also grow earthworms in containers where they turn farm and kitchen waste into rich compost to feed your plants. Growing earthworms is called vermiculture. It is a fast and simple way to get free fertilizer for your crops and…
Foliar Fertilizer Strengthens Crops
Many farmers grow healthier crops by using fertilizers. Fertilizers feed plants with nutrients to make them stronger. Usually fertilizers are mixed in with the soil and enter the plant through the roots. But there is another type of fertilizer called “foliar” fertilizer which is applied to the leaves of the plants instead of to the…
Save Soil on Sloping Fields
Conserve soil on sloping maize fields by digging ditches along the contours and filling them with maize stalks. The ditches stop soil from washing away and the soil and maize stalks make a compost which improves soil quality. This method also helps control white grubs. Losing soil is a problem for farmers who must plant…
Raise Your Own Plants for Green Manure Crops
Annual plants for green manure crops are easy to grow from seed. But propagating perennials (trees and shrubs that live for many years) from seed can be slow. A faster way to propagate some perennials is to use stem cuttings‑‑that is, pieces of branches cut from mature plants or trees. You can plant them in…
Working with Saline Soil
Saline soil is a problem for many farmers. Saline soil is especially common in low-lying areas such as the flood plains of rivers, lake beds, and coastal plains. In these places, ground water containing salts is found within a few metres of the surface. Most plants either do not grow well in saline soil or…
Trees in Your Garden Give you Fertilizer
Do you have a vegetable garden but not enough fertilizer? Today we are going to talk about an idea especially for gardeners or farmers who do not have livestock to supply manure as fertilizer for their garden. At the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in the Philippines they plant leguminous trees between garden plots….