Crop & Livestock Integrated Farming System - Manure as fertilizer

 

Crop-livestock integrated farming system - cocoa, coffee, palms, fruit trees…

Coffee and cocoa plantations are dominated by smallholder farmers who play an important role in national economy. These smallholder farmers are facing problems with low productivity, low quality of products, un-used waste and dependence on external inputs. So most farmers are increasingly using inorganic fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides to boost production and control diseases and pests in agroforestry. This has led to an increase in external input cost, health risks and ecosystem pollution. To address these issues, we shall be looking at a more eco-friendly way of increasing crop production and profit at low cost, zero waste and minimal health risks through crop-livestock integrated farming e.g rearing goats, pigs and poultry in cocoa, coffee, oil palms, rubber and fruit trees farms.

Crop-Livestock integrated farming system

This practice integrates crop and livestock systems. Livestock play an important role in global food production and in agricultural and rural economies in many developing regions. The crop-livestock integration system is a sustainable, effective, efficient and environmentally friendly system of crops and livestock that builds explicitly between biomass-producing and processing, waste management, water use, energy generation and soil nutrient conservation. It provide opportunities for maintaining and extending biodiversity, livelihood diversification, provision of alternative income streams and increase crop yield at low input cost which makes this farming system more viable and profitable.

An integrated farming system consists of a range of resource-saving practices that aim to achieve acceptable profits, high and sustained production levels, while minimizing the negative effects of intensive farming and preserving the environment. The crops produce abundant animal feed as folders and crop residues. The trimmed cocoa leaves/rind, fruit leaves, cassava/beans/maize leaves and crop residues are used as supplementary feed for animals to raise body weight gain. The animals graze under the trees/plants and provide manures which are used as a source of organic fertilizer for plant/trees. The animals are also sold to provide additional source of income to the farmers. This system lead to zero waste as plants waste are used to feed animals and animals waste are used to fertilize the soil. Crop-livestock integration can also reduce the cost of controlling weeds. Birds prefer grass and smaller weeds while goats and pigs prefer foraging on broader leaves.

The benefits of integrated livestock-crop systems

Integrated farming systems optimize resource utilization through beneficial synergies rather than maximization of individual elements in the system.

Agronomy – enhance the productive capacity of the land, enhance land utilization, increase soil fertility, control weed and pests

 Social - create jobs in rural areas, reduce poverty, reduce urbanization, improve livelihoods and enhance food security

Economical -   products diversification, increase crop yields, reduce input cost, reduce livestock costs, increase livestock productivity and provide multiple income streams

Health - reduce health risks from chemicals, halt malnutrition (Animal - protein, Cereals - carbohydrate, Fruits - vitamin/minerals)

Environmental – Strengthen crop resilience, enhance soil micro-organism and biological activity, improve soil structure, reduce erosion, increase soil organic matter and nutrient cycling, reduce ecosystem pollution from external inputs, result to zero-waste, reduce draught and restore ecosystems.

Animal manure as organic fertilizers

Manures are plant and animal wastes that are used as sources of plant nutrients. They release nutrients when they decompose. Manure is an important by-product of the mixed crop–livestock farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and a traditional source of nutrients for farm crops. It remains a low cost soil fertility investment niche which farmers should exploit. Manure is a valuable source of nutrients, organic matter and renewable energy. It contains soil nutrients and organic matter which is vital in maintaining and improving soil health and soil fertility. Hence, application of manure as a fertilizer is essential in maintaining and improving food security and livelihoods. Therefore ‘Manure is food security’. At Suzy-Farms we focus on raising goats/sheep, poultry and pigs for both meat and manure production.

Goat feces

Goat manure: Each goat can produce 0.6-2.5L of urine per day and 2.68kg of feces per day, which can be processed into organic fertilizer for the plants/trees. Each hectare can accommodate 4-10 goats to provide enough fertilizer from their feces. Goat manure contains 69.2% organic matter, 4.9% Nitrogen (N), 4.1% phosphorus (P), 1.9% Potassium (K), 1% Calcium (Ca) and 0.9% Magnesium (Mg). Goat manure has less odour than other types of manure and is much drier and easy to spread and work with. It is a good soil conditioner rich in Nitrogen. It improves soil texture which provide a good environment for roots to grow and also provide good water retention capacity. It can be collected and loosely spread on farms or composted for four months before used. Goat manure is the best animal manure for healthy soil, healthier plants and increases crop yield.

Poultry manure: The average nutrient content of poultry manure are 3.1% Nitrogen, 2.6% Phosphorus and 1.4% Potassium. It is also an important source of micronutrient such as Zinc (Zn), Cupper (Cu), Iron (Fe), and Manganese (MN). Chicken manure is rich in phosphorus and should be composted for 4-6 weeks before usage in farms to avoid leaching. About 15-30 birds will provide good manure per hectare.

Pig manure: A big boar produces about 7kg of feces and 7kg of urine per day. This contain 25% organic matter, 0.5% N and 0.4% P. Three to six pigs per hectare can provide enough fertilization without adverse effect.

Actualization at Suzy-Farms

Chickens foraging on farms

We have partition our 200ha of land into planting blocks of 6ha with roads (6m wide) around each block to ease management. Within each block we have pens for 150 chickens, 20 pigs and 50 goats. We do free-range or pasture grazing within our permaculture blocks with perennial crops like cocoa, coffee, oil palms, fruit trees and rubber. Within our vegetables and food crop blocks, the pigs and goats are confine on suspended pens to ease collection of feces and urine. These waste are composted for 4 months before usage as fertilizers on vegetable beds and crop fields. 

Advantages of organic manure

1.     It provides natural fertilizer and reduce external input cost

2.     It helps in the slow release process of the nutrients and reduces leaching

3.     It helps to reduce the alkalinity of the soil

4.     It improves soil organic matter and quality

5.     It prevents soil pollution from inorganic fertilizer

6.     It serves as a source of energy for micro-organism which are beneficial to the soil and plants

7.     It increases soil humus content which enhance the water retention capacity of the soil

Importance of Soil Organic Matter

 

The role of soil organic matter in agriculture

It is important for farmers to maintain healthy soil because it produces healthy crops that nourish people. Plants obtain nutrients from organic matter and minerals. Organic matters are plants and animal materials that return to the soil and decompose to produce nutrients, bind soil particles into aggregates, improve water holding capacity of the soil and harbor other soil organisms. These soil organisms convert dead materials, decaying matter and minerals into plant nutrients. Their biological activities depend on the organic matter supply and the type of substrate. The exchange of these nutrients between organic matter, water and soil is vital to soil fertility. Organic matter and soil nutrients need to be maintained for the continuous production of food. The soil fertility will decline if the land is cultivated without restoring the organic matter, nutrients and soil structure. This may further destroy the agro-ecosystem and reduce food yield. Organic matter thus plays a vital role in improving soil productivity and sustainable crop production, especially in the tropics. 

Mulching preserves moisture & organic matter

What is soil organic matter?

Soil Organic Matter (SOM) is a wide range of carbon-containing compounds formed from organic material – the products of on-site biological decomposition which keeps the soil healthy. SOM helps to feed plants, increases growth and yield; improves the soil structure, fertility and acts as a mulch to suppress weeds, protects the soil and reduces water lost. Soil organic matter is key to drought-resistant soil, sustaining food and increasing production. It can also be called soil improver, soil conditioner, or humus.

The soil organic matter is governed by the carbon cycle. The plant grows and adds organic matter to the soil through its roots, fallen leaves and dead plants. Most animals feed on plants and animal matter is also returned to the soil.  When they decompose, the organic matter releases carbon dioxide that is used by the plant in photosynthesis and valuable plant nutrients such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus and minerals.

The continuous supply of organic matter also acts as a food source for micro-organisms and helps build up soil carbon in a process called assimilation – which is vital for soil formation, nutrient availability and cycling. Different types of organic matter produce different organic matter fractions because they have different assimilation and decomposition characteristics. So if the rate of decomposition is more than assimilation, the SOM will reduce quickly (e.g. poultry manure); but if the rate of assimilation is more than decomposition, the SOM will increase (e.g. woodchips). The rate at which decomposition occur depends on oxygen, temperature, moisture, the surface area of the particle and its chemical structure. It takes more than 1 or 2 years for most organic matter to decompose and an ideal active soil organic matter contains about one-third of decomposable organic matter.

Avocado planted without tillage 

Why use organic matter?

In a natural forest, organic matter accumulates in soils.  Natural soils contain about 40% more organic matter than cultivated soils. When we cultivate the soil, the SOM declines because planted crops supply less organic residues than natural vegetation and the effects of tillage (digging, hoeing …) further increase the rate of SOM loss. It continues to decline to a level where the soil function is impaired and becomes unproductive. 

SOM influences several critical soil functions. It helps the soil to hold water and nutrient, improves soil structure, enhances productivity and environmental quality, reduces the severity of droughts, soil erosion and atmospheric carbon dioxide that contribute to climate change. SOM binds soil particles into aggregates that hold moisture and nutrients (preventing them from being washed away by rain). When plant roots penetrate these aggregates, the nutrients are released to feed the plants.

What human intervention decreases organic matter?

Repetitive harvesting of crops reduces soil nutrients and SOM. So much effort is needed to replenish these nutrients and restore soil quality. Most agricultural practices like ploughing, tillage and burning of vegetation increase the decomposition of soil organic matter and the soil become infertile and susceptible to erosion. Land use and management practices affect SOM. Below are some human activities that greatly decrease organic matter;

•  Decrease in biomass production such as replacement of perennial crops, replacement of mixed vegetation to monoculture or pastures, high level of harvesting (e.g. corn with stalks) and the use of bare fallow.
• Reduction of organic matter supply like burning of natural vegetation or crop residues (wildfires), overgrazing, and removal of crop residues.
•  Increasing decomposition rate through tillage, draining, fertilizers and pesticide usage.

How do we increase SOM in farms and gardens?

The key to soil restoration is to maximize the retention and recycling of plants' nutrients and organic matter while minimizing the loss of soil components through leaching, erosion and runoff. This will help to maintain, improve and rebuild soil health and sustain agricultural productivity. Farmers or gardeners need to continuously add sufficient organic matter (3-6%) to increase soil nutrients holding capacity, moisture and plant growth. Severe impacts may occur if the organic matter levels fall below 2%. Fortunately, you don’t need to test the soil to know if it needs organic matter or not. Soils that are light in color and compact when wet or dry probably require organic matter.

Some good conservation agricultural practices like zero or minimal tillage, cover cropping, agroforestry, perennial forage crops and crop rotations can help to maintain surface residues, roots and SOM. They can also suppress weeds, enhance soil aggregates and intact large spores which in turn allow water filtration and reduce water erosion and run-offs. The diverse soil organisms in SOM contribute to pests control and other essential ecological processes. Permaculture or well-managed integrated mixed crop-livestock farming systems are able to enhance SOM and restore soil health.

Mango planted with a little digging

Sources of organic matter

There are different sources of organic matter according to the different land use. The most important source of organic matter is biomass production.

•  Agricultural farms can get organic matter from crop residues, animal manure, green manure. The application of livestock manure to agricultural land increases soil organic matter in the soil profile.
•  Home gardens can get organic matter from household waste, commercial waste, old wood, green waste and compost - kitchen compost (from vegetables, fruit and gardening waste) and green compost (from pruning, branches, grass and leaf litter).

Garden compost is less costly and effective. Some compost can be bought as soil improvers or conditioners. Composted animal manure, spent hops from local breweries and spent mushroom compost can also be collected and used. Some councils offer municipal compost to gardeners (beware of weed killer residues). Organic matter can be stored - stacked and cover with rainproof material to prevent nutrients from being washed off by rain.

How to apply organic matter to soil

Into the soil: -Always add only well-composted materials into the soil to avoid soil nitrogen depletion. 5kg of compost per square meter is sufficient.

On the soil as mulch: - Most organic material can be used directly as mulch e.g. shredded wood waste, wood chip, bark, leaves. Coarser materials will take a longer time to break down. 2-5 cm mulch is enough for weed control or no-tillage gardens.

Leaves return to the soil as organic matter

Always wear boots and gloves when handling the organic matter; avoid eating, drinking, smoking and wash hands after application. Apply nutrients a week before planting and don’t over-fertilize to avoid contamination of water bodies.

Organic matter saves on fertilizer costs because manure contains about 0.8% nitrogen, 0.3% phosphate and 0.8% potash. Unlike fertilizers, the nutrients in organic matter are released slowly with little wastage and the organic matter themselves improves soil structure. Organic matter can be applied every 2 years because the nutrients are mainly available in the first 2 years after application and decrease thereafter. Make sure your compost is free of pests, diseases and weed seeds.

 Conclusion

Maintaining levels of SOM and optimizing nutrient cycling is vital in agricultural productivity. Some SOM fractions function as natural plant hormones that improve seed germination, root initiation, uptake of plant nutrients and provide N, P and S. Farmers should aim to achieve optimal agro-ecosystems that are socially, ecologically and economically sustainable by practicing conservation agriculture - a system that is able to convert low-input agricultural systems into a more productive one. Farmers need to understand the linkages between soil life, functions of the ecosystem and the impact of human activities to know how to enhance soil health and capture the full benefits of soil biological activities that lead to a more sustainable and productive agricultural system. A healthy soil ecosystem does the following:

• Decompose organic matter to form humus
• Retain Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Potassium and Calcium.
• Glue soil particles together into aggregates for the best structure
• Protect roots from pests and diseases
• Make retained nutrients available to the plant.
• Produce hormones that help plants grow
• Retain water moisture

SOM at different decomposition levels

Farmers! Let’s benefit from this knowledge and increase productivity. Take appropriate action now and let’s together feed the growing population while maintaining agro-ecosystems. Leave a comment or question below so we know you were here.

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