Tools and techniques to maximize profits and build resilient farming systems and improve natural resources management in Zambia By Sebastian Scott – Grassroots Trust

1. Regenerative
Agriculture – RA
for small scale farmers in
the sub-humid tropics
Tools and techniques to maximize
profits and build resilient farming
systems and improve natural
resources management in
Zambia
Sebastian Scott – Grassroots Trust

2. What’s the goal?
 To achieve improved livelihoods for the
rural population through a balance of
social, economic and environmental
factors to ensure sustainable growth.

3. Soil – the basis for growth

5. Organic Matter- the heart of
the soil
 Increased organic matter leads to:
- Increased infiltration and water holding
capacity
- Increased nutrient content and holding
capacity
- Improved soil structure which leads to
reduced erosion and less labour when the soil
is cultivated
- Increased biological function in the soil which
leads to nutrient release and disease
suppression

6. How do we increase soil
organic matter in tropical
soils?
 No burning of crop residues – as this leads to the
carbon on the surface of the soil being released as
carbon dioxide and monoxide.
 No soil inversion – as this leads to the introduction of
excessive oxygen into the soil which leads to rapid
decomposition of soil organic mater by micro-
organisms.
 Reduce heavy applications of nitrogen fertilizer – as
this directly kills micro organisms, leads to rapid
bacterial growth and loss of carbon as CO2 and also
leads to acidic soil conditions which limit nutrient
availability.
 Grow more organic matter in the field and cycle
organic matter through animals in the form of
manure.

7. Fire!

8. Why do people burn residue?
 To allow the plough to pass in the field
 To avoid the hindrance of residue during post
emergence weed control
 To avoid the risk of late season ‘hot’ fires near
their homes
 By accident when people – not necessarily
the farmers - burn bush around their farms
 To enable the hunting of field mice.
 To reduce disease/pest pressure from residue

10. Why do people plough?
 Ploughing is usually a method of early weed
control and allows a period of calm before
weeding starts
 Ploughing with a mould-board plough allows a
farmer to plant seed and apply fertilizer in the
furrow behind the plough
 The plough is thought to loosen the soil – but in
reality does the opposite through the action of
smearing and by allowing particle separation to
occur over time – both lead to ‘hard pan’ effects
which limit root growth and soil drainage
 In summary – ploughing is predominantly a labour
saving technique

11. Why do people use fertilizer?
 Fertilizer gives good yield responses on soils
which have high organic matter – this has
been the case for many virgin soils that have
had organic matter built up over many years
in our savannah eco-system, with few fires
and abundant wildlife to aid decomposition
and cycling of nutrients
 Fertilizer is subsidized by the government
 Maize- our main crop- requires a lot of
nutrients, especially Nitrogen and
Phosphorous for good growth and yields

12. So – how do we establish
crops without burning and
ploughing without increasing
the labour burden, at low
cost?
 For very dry areas – some form of dry season,
minimum tillage land preparation that
concentrates water near the seed, e.g. basins,
ripping.
 Minimum/no tillage direct seeding. E.g.
Mechanical/draft power drawn or hand seeders
or dibble stick, possibly on slight contour ridges in
very humid conditions or on poorly drained sites.

13. Ripping with oxen between
established pigeon pea

14. Using a dibble stick to make
holes for planting
maize/soya/cover crops etc.

15. How do we provide crops with
nutrients without fertilizer?
 Build soil organic matter, reduce soil disturbance and
promote soil biology that can release nutrients for plants
over the season.
 Intercropping cash crops (grains, pulses or oil crops) with
various legumes has proven to be a sustainable method
providing nutrients to subsequent maize crops if the
nitrogen is releases at the correct time to correspond with
cash crop demand.
 Pigeon pea is one such legume that currently has a cash
market in Zambia and is a very high protein food source for
humans and livestock. It also has the ability to produce
large amounts of biomass for building SOM.
 Improved Manure Handling (IMH) techniques for ruminant
and non-ruminant manure can boost crop yields and add
valuable organic matter to the soil.

16.  Fertilizer should not be ruled out and can
play an important role in very sandy soils
and soils which are in transition to
increased SOM and improved soil biology.
Furthermore, small additions of fertilizer
(less than 100kg/Ha) may produce good
economic returns once the soil has been
returned to health (more than 2% organic
matter)
 If available, calcitic and dolomitic lime
can be used in a strip applications in the
field or through IMH manure in acid soils
and as a source of calcium for soil
biology.

17. Intercropping guidelines
 Should provide immediate benefit to farmers:
food, fodder, firewood, timber
 Seed should be cheap and easy to establish
 The system as a whole should be able to
produce large quantities of biomass (more
than 6t/Ha dry or 25t/Ha wet above ground
organic matter) in order to increase long term
organic matter
 In the case of legumes, should be able to fix
sufficient N for grain crops

18. Cont..
 In the case of legumes, should have the
ability to release N at the time that grain
crops require it (little understood but
extremely important for effective use of
gm/cc’s)
 Should do most of its growing before the
main crop canopies (very fast maturing
cowpea), after the main crop has
matured (pigeon pea) or be shade
tolerant (sweet potato, pumpkin)

20. 6.6t/Ha maize, no fert, no
manure after 2 years pigeon
pea intercropping.

21. Pigeon pea intercropping
guidelines
 Plant at the same time as maize in the same
planting hole
 For Zambia, use medium maturity varieties like
Zamseed ‘Early Bulk’ and ICEAP 015/14
 Plant high seed rates to avoid brittle stems
which lead to damage during browsing and
make cutting back easier
 High plant density also increases yield
potential and biomass production

22. Three or more crops from one
field in one year!
 Harvest maize – May/June
 Harvest Pigeon pea – July/August
 Allow ruminants or pigs to browse pigeon pea -
August to Nov
 Pigeon pea is strip harvested
 Pigeon pea is ratooned for two years after the
year of establishment
 Pumpkins, climbing beans and cowpea can also
be planted together with maize in this system in
the second and third season(not in the first as
these crops may interfere with the growth of the
pigeon pea

23. The potential for immediate
benefit
 Establishment cost 1 man-day to plant 1Ha (in the
same hole as maize at the same time). Planting
once every 3 years.
 15kg seed/Ha 20USD(in Zambia) from seed
companies, 10USD from farmers once at the
beginning of the cycle.
 Yield of pigeon pea in maize intercrop 200-
700kg/Ha for 3 years (16-24% protein)
 Cash return from Pigeon pea/Ha: 100-300USD/year
 Also dry season browsing for livestock and
firewood.

26. IMH guidelines
 Use local/cheap material to cover and
protect manure for the drying effect of the
sun and leaching effects of rain to increase to
nitrogen content in manure by up to 10 times
= 10 times less hauling
Strip apply manure in crop row only and
combine with weeding to cover manure
 Apply manure twice in a season if possible –
most of the N in manure is used up in 3-4week
after application.
 Unlike traditional compost making - IMH is a
low-labour technology and requires no
added organic matter, water or mixing

28. Mrs Tembo, Chongwe,
Zambia. Reducing inputs,
increasing yields…
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
2011/12 100kg D
100kg Urea
2012/13 5 t IMH +
100kg D 100kg urea
2013/14 5 t IMH + 40
kg Urea
Maize yield kg/Ha
Profit K/ha - no hired labour

29. Mechanical weed control
 Light mechanical weed control can be
used to bury manure/compost/residues to
preserve nutrients, encourage
decomposition and the release of
nutrients.
 Mechanical weed control using animal
draft power (ADP) and hand hoe are
made more difficult where abundant
residues are present on the soil surface.
 Excessive soil disturbance reduces SOM
and can lead to moisture loss and erosion.

30. Herbicides
 Can allow farmers with access to herbicides
and appropriate training to control weeds
effectively in low/no-tillage systems.
 For farmers that do not employ labour for
weed control (most farmers in Africa) it usually
increases variable costs.
 Can be toxic to soil organisms, water borne
organisms, people and livestock. Some
selective herbicides have long term residual
action, reducing potential for crop rotation.
 Makes intercropping (the basis for resilient,
productive, low cost cropping systems) very
difficult.

31. Slashing – you’ll be surprised!

32.  Allows a farmer to suppress weeds during the
growth of the cash crop.
 Can be very fast compared to mechanical
weed control(7-14days/Ha compared to 25-
45). This allows farmers to cover large areas at
critical times in the growing season.
 Allows weeds to grow back after the cash
crop has matured, increasing soil fertility and
providing soil cover and livestock fodder in
the dry season.
 Works best with higher plant densities/bigger
plants that can effectively compete with
weeds through canopy closure.
 Needs sharp tools to work effectively and can
takes longer if done when weeds are big.
 Cannot bury manure/compost/fertilizer, which
can promote nutrient losses.

33. Pasture management and
improved livestock production
 Planned/rotational grazing to reduce internal
and external parasites and improve grassland
species diversity and re-growth.
 Selecting indigenous cattle and goat breeds
with disease resistance and improved
performance under dry-land conditions.
 Value adding grain by producing farm-made
feed for mono-gastric animals. This can
double, triple or even quadruple the value of
farm produced grain and provide a valuable
source of manure for crop production.

34. Planned grazing
‘Bunching’ animals
together in a herd to
graze in strips simulates
large herbivore behavior
in the wild and leads to
many grassland and
livestock health benefits.

35. Free-range swine production

36. Free-range broilers
Broilers are housed
in a movable cage
which is moved to
a new position
every day and
effectively weed
and fertilize the soil
– in this case for
bananas.

37. Free-range eggs
Laying hens
are kept in
simple
housing with
an outside
run. Manure
from the
house these
chickens is
used as a
fertilizer for
crops.

38. Community dynamics
 Some RA technologies can be applied
independently by farmers to improve
management practices, but..
 The success of many of these technologies
depends upon community decisions as a
whole and…
 Without community awareness and common
consensus about what can be achieved and
how it can be achieved….
 Regenerating soils, trees, grasslands, livestock
numbers, wildlife and fish stocks and
improving rural livelihoods can be very difficult

40. Grassroots Trust
 We provide training for farmers at our farm in
Kafue to give farmers hands on experience
with these technologies
 We work with communities to enhance
awareness about natural resource
management and give specific guidance
where needed
 We facilitate/enhance relationships with
communities and other stakeholders to
facilitate a conducive development
environment
 We link communities to appropriate private
sector partners to aid in marketing and
finance opportunities