Presentation AFC

8/14/2019 Presentation AFC

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Organic Principles

There are several principles that characterize certified organic

farming.

These principles include:

Biodiversity

Integration

Sustainability

Natural Plant Nutrient

Natural Pest Management

Integrity


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Organic Principles

Biodiversity:

Diverse ecosystems have a higher degree of stability.

Farms with a diverse mix of crops have a better

chance of supporting beneficial organisms:

Pollinators

Pest management

Microbes for better nutrients cycling, diseasesuppression and N-fixation


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Organic Principles

Biodiversity

Practices to mimic biodiversity include:

Intercropping

Companion planting

Crop rotation


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Organic Principles

Integration

Good organic practices integrate their variousenterprises.

Example:

Forage legumes + Non-legume crops in rotation.

Manure from livestock enterprises is conserved as anutrient resource and recycled back.

Additional advantage of integration is economicsustainability.


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Organic Principles

Sustainability

Organic farmers are able to reap market premiumsfor certified production.

Organic farms perform well on many measurableindicators associated with sustainability:

Energy

Environmental protection


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Organic Principles

Natural Plant Nutrition

Chemical fertilizers alter the soil pH (increase acid).

There is often over-application of the fertilizer withconventional systems.

Soluble inorganic nutrients are prone to leaching.

Chemical fertilizers are associated with nutrientimbalances.


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Organic Principles

Integrity

Refers to a system in place and actions undertaken to assurethat consumers of organic produce get what they have paid for.

Organic products must be protected from contamination andmixing with non-organic products.

Proper record keeping is very important.

Production practices such as use of buffer strips to reducechemical drifts from neighboring fields and roadsides areadopted.


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Organic Principles


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Organic Principles

Composting

Composting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of recyclingand it is something that all of us can do in our own back garden.

Why Compost?

Helps your local Environment.

Reduces the amount of garden and kitchen waste going to Landfill.

Saves you money.

Helps your garden grow naturally.


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Organic Principles

Composting


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Organic Principles

How to Compost...

Locate your composter on bare soil. Somewhere in your garden that is easilyaccessible all year round.

Mix your green and brown materials evenly when composting.

When composting you should put a lot of materials in all at once.

Chop large items into smaller pieces to help with the process.

Ensure that your compost is moist but not wet:

when squeezed in your hand, a few drops of water should be produced.

Add water if it is too dry

cover and add dry material if too wet.


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Organic Principles

How to Compost...

If you wish, add compost accelerator (young nettles are anexcellent natural accelerator) to help speed up thecomposting process.

Keep adding materials, remembering to agitate thecontents every couple of weeks throughout spring andsummer to keep air flowing through.

Your compost is ready when it is dark in color and smellslike earth. This can take from 6 to 18 months depending onthe materials used and the time of the year.


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Organic Principles

What should you compost?

Grass Cuttings

Hedge Cuttings

Vegetable Peelings

Tea Bags

Egg shells

Coffee Grounds

Ripped Cardboard & Paper


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Experimental Results of using compost

Collards Le af Area V s Poultry Litte r Applicatio

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

Control 4 ton / acre 6 ton / acre 8 ton / acre

Poultry L itte r Application R

L e a f A r e a ( m

2 )

Githinji L., 2009


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Experimental Results of using compost and Cover Crops

Sweetpotato foliage dry matter in 2009

S w e e

t p o t a t o

f o l i a g e

d r y m a t

t e r

( M g

h a

- 1 )

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

Control (nocover crop)

Cover crop only(no BL)

Cover crop

+0.5 Mg BL ha -1Cover crop

+1 Mg BL ha -1Cover crop

+2 Mg BL ha -1

Treatments

Cover crop

+3 Mg BL ha -1

Kpomblekou-A and Hamido., 2009


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Experimental Results of using Compost and Cover Crops

Sweetpotato storage root yield in 2008 and 2009

S w e e

t p o t a t o s t o r a g e r o o t y i e l

d ( M g

h a - 1 )

0

2

4

6

8

Control (no

cover crop)

Cover crop only

(no BL)Cover crop

+0.5 Mg BL ha -1Cover crop

+1 Mg BL ha -1Cover crop

+2 Mg BL ha -1

Treatments

Cover crop

+3 Mg BL ha -1

Kpomblekou-A and Hamido., 2009

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