3rd world grassroots phosphorus solution

From the BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190114-compost-or-phosphorus-fertiliser-in-africa-agriculture

John S
PDX OR

Good find there John, I must say I am impressed that this article lays out the whole subject from Problem ID through to solutions and it even brings up the importance of the soil microbes.

Redhawk

It's nice to know that the message is spreading across the globe.
John S
PDX OR

Yes it is, Africa seems to be one of the most resistant areas when it comes to farmers making the necessary changes to their thinking too.

Once we can get all farmers realizing that they must focus on growing their soil instead of growing plants (crops) then the world will be in a good position to provide enough food for the growing population.

Redhawk

Bryant RedHawk wrote:Yes it is, Africa seems to be one of the most resistant areas when it comes to farmers making the necessary changes to their thinking too.

Once we can get all farmers realizing that they must focus on growing their soil instead of growing plants (crops) then the world will be in a good position to provide enough food for the growing population.

Redhawk

This is partly due to the fact that the Western ag system has been fed to them as their greatest hope. There are many beneficial traditional agricultural practices in Africa that have been abandoned because of the promise of fertilizers and pesticides. Yes, traditional African agriculture is slash and burn, but it also was no-till and fields were left fallow for decades at a time. The plow was introduced by colonialists. It dramatically boosted production in the short term and allowed individuals to mono-crop much larger surfaces...and then become dependent on chemical fertilizers to maintain that yield. If you think plowing depletes soil in the temperate regions of the world, the heat of the tropics absolutely devours plowed soil. Again, it boosts yield impressively, but according to my observation it only lasts about ten years before the field is spent. And that's just with oxen-drawn plows!

If that weren't hard enough, Western ag companies introduced hybrid corn (now GMO corn, of course) in places like Kenya and Zimbabwe, along with chemical fertilizers as a way to maintain yield. Basically in a hot climate, your field is just a hydroponic medium at that point, EXTREMELY vulnerable to variations in rainfall. So you can say that African farmers are "resistant" to making changes, but the fact is, they're trapped by the ag companies in a neo-colonialism. In places like Chad, where I live, the ag companies haven't made it here yet, but they're still trapped by poverty. You can't afford to experiment with "sustainable" methods when the method you know is the only thing between you and starvation from one year to the next.

You want change in Africa? Get on a plane and roll up your sleeves, like Mr. Johann van der Ham. In the African context only personal investment will produce development in thinking.

Shame they're using chicken manure, I would've thought pigeons would excrete more phosphorous and be more suited to the climate.