My demonstration plot is in full swing and decided to give a little lesson on summer green manures in Paraguay. Let´s begin.
This is my demonstration plot. I couldn´t quite fit all of it in this picture, so I have broken them up according to the green manures.
This green carpet is Mucuna Ceniza, related to Kudzu. This is a quick growing vine that fixes nitrogen as well as covers the soil very quickly, creating a green mulch. It is just as rampant as its cousin Kudzu, but luckily for Paraguayans the plant dies completely with the onset of cold weather. It is hard to tell from this picture, but the mucuna is about waste deep and not a single weed is growing in it because the mucuna grows so fast that it outcompetes everything. When using it in conjunction with other crops one has to take this into account and plant Mucuna towards the end of the crop cycle. For instance, when grown with corn, Mucuna has to be planted just as the corn is flowering. If they were planted at the same time the Mucuna would take over.
This is what it looks like underneath the green canopy. The dead leaves keep the soil moist and cool as well as break down relatively quickly adding more organic matter to the soil.
This is Kumanda Yvyra´i, I believe it is called cowbean in the states. It is a small shrub/tree that grows for about 4 years. The beans it produces are very nutritious as human food, chicken feed and pig feed. It fixes nitrogen and drops plenty of leaves to create a good mulch. The wood can eventually be used as firewood and in some instances, like my neighbor, the tree can be trained to provide shade in summer gardens.
This low-lying vine is called Dolichos Lab-lab. It is not that common around here. It has similar growth habits as mucuna though not quite as fast nor aggressive. This plant is a bit more hardy than Mucuna. It´s leaves and vines are a bit thicker and can withstand cooler temperatures, which makes it suitable for perennial crops like pineapple and yerba mate or citrus. It fixes plenty of nitrogen and once it gets going outcompetes weeeds.
Millet. This is a grain which also serves as a greenmanure due to its ability to grow well and quickly in low nutrient soils. It outcompetes weeds and produces lots of organic matter. It can be pruned more than once a year and will grow back. The seeds are edible for both humans and birds.
These next three pictures are of Sorghum. Also grows the same as millet, though much thicker and taller. The plant itself resembles corn, but like Millet needs little nutrients and can outcompete weeds. In fact, it is alleopathic, which means it secretes a chemical into the soil which inhibits the growth of plants around it. The plant is good cow forrage and pig forrage, the seeds are used to make flour and there are some varieties in India in which Syrup is extracted from the plant.
This is what a normal plot of land looks like if it were to be allowed to go fallow. These are weeds just from this summer. I hoed my plot only once before I planted the seeds. The plants did the rest, I have virtually no weeds and have to do little to no work to keep it in order.
This is mucuna in action. One farmer wanted to grow it with his corn as a way to enrich the soil since corn is such a heavy feeder. We planted this just as the corn was flowering and now it is taking over!
This is corn without any green manures. Not the best picture, but you can see that it is just all weeds in between the corn.
The mucuna loves growing up the corn. Right before the mucuna sets seed we will use a rollingknife, a big cyliner with blades to cut and crush the mucuna/corn residue and leave it as a mulch for the next season in an attempt to do no-till farming.
No comments:
Post a Comment