musa sani

Thanks Greg,the links will sure be useful.
actually Rice is not must i have the considering of other drought resistance in mind. Depending on how well i can prepared the farm.

Hello guys,I have been thinking about this idea about how to grow Rice on dry land.not necessarily grow rice but a way to save the moisture n water  from the low rainfall we are gatting annually.the shortage of rainfall causes more loss every year.
   First im thinking of digging to make the entire farm surface lower by 60cm.i know its labour extensive but if i could do it.
 Then i will use the part of the dug up sand to raise the borders higher
 I want to find ANY water proof sheets to cover the whole surface.
 The rest of the dugout sand will be mix with compost and put back on top the cover. the thickness of about 40cm.
Please i want your views on this.
Its possible for me but do think its worth it.

After reading through,I think have to focus more on putting organic materials in this land than trying to make it produce anything I need for at leas 1-2years.
I planted beans and millet but I will let them grow and mix-up with grasses,to provide cover from sun heat during dry season and as mulch.i also reduced the area which I ll develop this year.i will bring in anything that grow in the entire farm in the fence section.I'm getting material for fencing before the rearing starts.I will fence 1/3 this year and mulch it with all that grows in the land.another quarter next year.

I have ask for help with designing of ponds-like for rain water catchment for gardening during dry season.
Thanks for help on how to swale.still open for more tips and suggestions.

Michael Cox wrote:Jennifer's tip for managed regeneration is a great one. You may already have established root systems in place in your soil, just waiting for another chance to become a tree. You will need to be able to protect your regenerating trees at least until their canopy is out of browse range. Do you have a need/market for stick wood for fuel in your area? This could be another valuable crop product while sheltering your main crops.

Cooking stoves that make biochar might be a good investment to use the fuel wood efficiently and make some additional soil supplement for you.

Two acres isn't too large to consider digging Swales by hand as well - the more water you can hold and sink into your soil the better. You can mark out contours using an a-frame and "walking" it across the land. Even better if you could talk to you neighbours and see if some of them are interested in a larger scale project which could benefit all of you.

The Al Baydha project is an example of a community effort to restore awhile water catchment in an extreme desert environment. Your challenges are a little different as they had very very low rainfall, but a broad scale approach to the whole landscape could benefit everyone.

Thankyou sir,your suggestions keep leading me to new ideas.
Please could I get more info about digging swale?
Thanks.

Konstantinos Karoubas wrote:

Kostas

Quite a good words to learn from.my relationship definition of land will be same as yours.
Thanks.

Jennifer Wadsworth wrote:Hi Musa - I thought that you would find those inspirational! Some of the most important and successful work in rehabilitating large degraded landscapes is happening in Africa. I think that those involved in that work have no idea how inspirational they are to the rest of the world. We're watching with interest and we're following your lead.

Please keep us involved in your work and post pictures as you can.

Hello,the information you provided here gives my me hope that I too can do it.
I ll do best to keep you all posted with each stage of my project.
Thankyou so much

Brett Andrzejewski wrote:Hello Musa,

Hi Brett,your contribution points to all the important things I need to do to succeed in this project
I will keep re-reading it to see how much I can put to practice.
Thank you sir.

Jennifer Wadsworth wrote:Hi Musa!

I live in a hot, dry climate here in Phoenix, Arizona. I have also lived in Kenya, Somalia and Lesotho.

First of all, I want to congratulate you on taking up this task!

Here are some resources that may help you - some of them are happening close to you:

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration: http://fmnrhub.com.au/

Niger has had some fabulous success with reclaiming desertified lands with FMNR:

Zai Pits and the story of Yacouba Sawadogo - the "Man who Stopped the Desert"

How to build Zai Pits: http://en.howtopedia.org/wiki/How_to_Start_Culture_in_Zai_Holes

Wow this really gives me more hope as that is exactly what I wanted to introduce to my region.
I'm very close to niger.we are facing same challenges,so glad when I watched these videos.
People really need to see to believe here that's why talking is not helping much.someone has to put things to practice.

Thanks for that website I think it will help alot.

S Bengi wrote:Do not try to harvest that land for at least 3 years.

Focus on just 1 or 2 acres only.
Plant only the native "invasive" plants until you get as much ground cover/shade as possible.
Plant a native nitrogen fixer/legume/bean+pea family.
If you can get someone to dump newspaper/cardboard/leaves/straw to your property pay to have them do it.
If possible get some fungal spores that are adopted for your area
It seems that you do get a good amount of rain you just have to save it

Thanks.
But I planned to make a compost with leaves and and staw I could get,because of the difficulty to keep away other people cattle from it.
I will try to make as much as I can.

Thank you all for your suggestions,I'm really finding helpful tips.
I will keep work progress posted