TRENCH COMPOSTING

Many of you like to compost. Perhaps you have a large bin composter that turns your kitchen scraps into black gold for the garden, or you have designated compost piles. But if you don’t have the room or don’t want the sight of it, dig a trench and bury your compost pile underground. Earthworms and micro-organisms in the soil convert the organic matter into nutritious plant food.

Brad Bergefurd is a horticulture Extension educator at Ohio State University. He says there is more than one way to do trench composting.

“You can do one long trench throughout the entire garden. It takes up a lot of space, but that’s one method,” he says. “Another method is where you just do spot trench composting. That’s where you use a posthole digger and dig down 18 to 24 inches in a round circle, usually between the plants in the garden. That’s also where you’d do your trench composting so it doesn’t take up a large part of the garden.”

You can toss in a lot of items that can’t go in an above-ground compost pile, such as pet waste, citrus peels, and things that wildlife and critters would otherwise get into. 

“You can bury those different waste products 18 to 24 inches deep. The soil that you’ve taken out of the trench can be piled back on top,” says Bergefurd. “You can add a layer of straw to speed up the composting process, but within a couple of months, you can usually go ahead and plant right back into that trench you’ve composted in.”

Plants get the nutrition right where they need it – at the root zone. The root system also becomes stronger because it reaches down deep to find the nourishing material.

It’s important, however, to wait those two to three months before planting anything directly over the trench. That’s because the composting process produces heat, and you would risk injuring the plant roots, Bergefurd says.

source: successful farming

CROP INSURANCE RULES FOR COVER CROPS

Kevin Glanz had planted cereal rye into soybean stubble on his farm near Manchester, Iowa, for four years when he decided to try something new in 2016. At trade shows in Minnesota, he learned of farmers’ success interseeding cover crops into standing corn in early summer. 

So last year, he decided he’d try a mix that included legumes and brassicas. He would have his co-op seed the cover while applying urea to his corn at the five- to six-leaf stage. The cover would have time to get established before going dormant under the corn canopy.

It seemed like a good plan, until he told his crop insurance agent about it on March 30, 2016. Within hours, his crop insurance company threatened to void his coverage. “I got no help from my insurance agent. He sided with the company,” recalls Glanz.

Glanz was caught in apparent confusion in the industry about changes in the USDA Risk Management Agency’s rules for good farming practices with cover crops. Cover crops had to be seeded after the insured crop reached physiological maturity until 2014, when RMA revised its rules to allow earlier planting “as long as the cover crop is seeded at a time that will not impact the yield or harvest of the insured crop.”

Glanz went ahead with his plans. He got support from the regional RMA office in Minneapolis, which contacted his insurer. But he had to endure a “quality control audit” of three visits to his farm and detailed record keeping of herbicide treatments. 

All the while, he risked a protracted dispute with his insurer if he had a crop-loss claim. He didn’t. "It basically boiled down to no claim, no problem,” he says.

Sarah Carlson, Midwest cover crop director for Practical Farmers of Iowa, says not all crop insurers accept RMA rules on earlier seeding. “RMA says this is OK, and the science says this is OK.” 

In the Midwest, 15 days after planting the corn or soybeans seem to be enough of a head start before seeding cover crops, and the earliest farmers are trying it at about 30 days after planting, she says. “It’s the industry that’s not following the rules.”

She advises farmers who plant cover crops to check with their insurance agent before trying new practices. Meanwhile, Glanz is looking for a different crop insurer.

Armyworm infestation threatens crops in Zimbabwe

After two years of drought, incessant rains in most parts of Zimbabwe had raised hope that food shortages would be eased, but the outbreak of armyworms now raises a new threat to the crops, especially the country’s staple food – Maize.

Farmers in Zimbabwe fear that President Robert Mugabe’s government is taking too long to provide pesticides and education to deal with the pest which might prolong the country’s food shortages.

One of the farmers in Mazowe District about 50 miles north of the country’s capital Harare, Tatenda Mapfumo has appealed to the government and fellow farmers to fight the worm targeting his crops.

“I would want to tell the minister of agriculture in Zimbabwe to control the worm. They shouldn’t take it for granted. It will actually reduce our yield,” he said.

He also expressed that he lacks the money needed to buy enough pesticides to fight the outbreak.

Deutsche Welle reports that the armyworm got its name because the invasive species travels in “armies” and consumes everything in its path.

Some experts however believe that the armyworm might have come into Zimbabwe through food importation.

Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket of southern Africa, is largely dependent on food assistance due to the 2015-2016 drought caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. This has been coupled with the chaotic land-reform program that removed white commercial farmers from their land.

Reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations had earlier indicated that about one million people will need food assistance in Zimbabwe until March when the harvest season begins. But with the spread of the armyworm, that assistance may need to be extended.

However, the FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for Southern Africa, Chimimba Phiri has assured the Zimbabwean farmers that the FAO will ensure that the problem of armyworm would not have an impact on the issue of food insecurity.

“Communities and farmers that notice something strange should report it so that action can be taken as soon as quickly as possible, otherwise there is a contagion spreading from farm to farm and eventually from country to country,” he said.

Phri pointed that the armyworm species called “Fall” was first seen in Nigeria.

“The problem with the FALL armyworm is that it is not easily controllable with chemicals unless it has been identified on a farm an early stage,” he said.

The United Nations however reports that the armyworm is now also being reported in Zambia and Malawi.

5 technologies that can transform Smallholder farmers’ Lives

One of the agreements reached at the World Economic Forum annual meetings held in Davos recently, was the need for governments across the world to take agriculture seriously to ensure sustainable supply of food for the growing mass of people in the world.

Majority of the poor people in the world reside in rural areas, with agriculture as their main source of livelihood. For instance, In Africa, over 80 per cent of our farmers are smallholders and they produce 70 per cent of the continent’s food. 

Developing the potential through technology to increase the productivity and incomes for smallholders crop production systems will be the basis to achieving global food security in the coming years as traditional methods of farming continually proves  insufficient to meet this increased demand for food.

Here are five technologies with potentials to connect smallholder farmers to new resources, information, knowledge and markets.

• The Internet

Internet is today one of the most important parts our daily life.  The internet does not only make our tasks easier but also saves a lot of time. A United Nations report reveals that 55 per cent of the world’s people remain offline and are unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the internet can offer. Also large majority of smallholder farmers live in remote areas, where good, fast internet connectivity reaches less than 30 per cent of the population.

Increased internet connectivity will help farmers access vital information on how to  operate more efficiently ,  equipment purchases,  ensure high crop yields,  soil mapping, plant health and effective farm animal management.

• Mobile devices and platforms

It is becoming increasingly apparent that cash payment schemes are archaic in the 21st century. Mobile payment to farmers can be economically viable for value chains with expected and high volume transactional activity.  Through mobile devices and platforms, farmers would have greater safety and security because they would no longer have to carry large amounts of cash after selling their harvest.

More so, majority of smallholder farmers especially those in the rural areas are illiterates and unaccustomed with the numerous forms required to open bank accounts, which most times are not even located close to them. When these farmers are properly trained on how to make use of mobile financial services, it would serve the entire financial needs for them including expenses for agricultural inputs which would later lead to high productivity.

• Electricity

According to the World Bank, there about 1.3 billion people without reliable power sources globally, most of them in Africa and Asia. This translates into 600 million people – 70 percent of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa – without electricity, which is critical in powering water supplies, telecommunication services amongst others.  Electricity is central to the broader development of agriculture anywhere in the world. Without stable electricity, it is unlikely for the agricultural sector to experience a significant development.

With constant electricity supply, smallholder farmers can run cleaner irrigation systems, use processing machines, improved efficiencies in land preparation, planting and harvesting.   All of these would massive increase their yields and income.

• Unique identifiers

A unique identifier (UID) is a numeric or alphanumeric string that is associated with a single entity within a given system.

UIDs are already in use in developed countries and it plays a vital role in the lives of people. For example, when you log on to Amazon.com, the site knows who you are and what you have bought before. Unique identifiers, along with satellite imaging technology, would enable relevant agricultural agencies to collect data about farmers; where they live, how much land they cultivate, what they grow, what inputs they use, how much they yield, etc. For instance, the eWallet system in Nigeria has enabled the government to identify and deliver input subsidies directly to farmers based on personal and biometric information provided by smallholder farmers.

For unique identifiers to improve farmers’ lives, data systems must be able to guarantee that data remains anonymous for the privacy and security of individuals. And with more than 40 million transactions through the mobile wallet system in just two years, it’s clear that smallholder farmers anywhere can adopt digital financial services more broadly.

• Geospatial analysis

It is a farming concept that utilizes geographical information to determine field variability to ensure optimal use of inputs and maximize the output from a farm. Large tracts of land usually have spatial variations of soils types, moisture content, and nutrient availability and so on.

If smallholders farmers adopt the use of Geospatial analysis, it would enable them generate up to date aerial and satellite photographs of their farm during different periods of the year or seasons. With this information, the farmer is able to determine the productivity of different management zones. At the same time, the growth and yield patterns of different zones within the farm can also be identified.

Although some of these technologies are still relatively new and may be alien to smallholder farmers, it is therefore imperative for government, and relevant agencies to ensure they are not left behind in this global trend. This is necessary, as digital infrastructure remains a crucial tool for smallholder farmers to access and create tools that empower them to make decisions about their farms and businesses.

E-WALLET AGRIC PROGRAMME BEST WAY OF ENHANCING FARMING, SAYS DOGUWA

The Chief Whip of House of Representatives, Alhaji Alhassan Ado Doguwa has described the federal government’s E-Wallet Agricultural programme as the best way of enhancing commercial farming in the country.

Doguwa, who disclosed this in Kano during an oversight function visit to Warawa local government area of Kano state, called on Nigerian farmers to support the programme with a view to boosting their production.

He said: “The programme was introduced to support farmers enhance their farming activities and from what we have seen the programme is yielding positive results.”

He appealed to the federal government to sustain the programme, as according to him it has positive impact on Nigerian farmers.

Also speaking, Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Alhaji Mustapha Bala Dawaki, said the programme has encouraged many farmers across the country to embrace commercial agriculture.

“We will continue to support this programme at the National Assembly so that our farmers would gain more benefits from it. As representatives of our people, we will ensure that the federal government improves on this programme,” he said.

Earlier, a member, House Committee on Agriculture, Alhaji Munnir Babba Dan’Agundi, expressed delight on farmers turn out at the screening exercise.

Dan’Agundi said over 200 farmers have been screened in Warawa local government area and out of figures 30 farmers have collected their agricultural package that include urea, NPK and organic fertilizers, as well as seed and micro nutrient valued at N41, 750.

He said the lawmakers were in Warawa local government as part of their oversight visit to constituencies to assess the programme, saying “we are assessing successes and challenges of the programme.”

He said that the lower chamber of the National Assembly would ensure that all challenges affecting the programme are addressed before the next farming season.

WOMEN IN AG: FARMING FROM THE AIR

Can you tell the difference between soybeans and sweet potatoes from 100 feet in the air?

Could you handle the controls of an airplane flying 150 mph?

Could you keep that airplane 10 feet off the ground, apply an agriculture product to the right field, keep the product on target, and avoid hazards in and around the field?

If so, you might be an Agriculture Aviator.

I’ve always called an agriculture pilot a crop duster, but that doesn’t begin to cover what these pilots do. First of all, most of the products they apply are liquid, so the pilots aren’t really dusting anything. In addition to applying pesticides, planes are used to plant seeds, apply fertilizer, fight wildfires, feed fish, and many other jobs in agriculture.

Last week, our wheat needed fertilizer applied to it, but the field was too wet for the tractor. Instead, we used an aerial applicator.

According to the National Agricultural Aviation Association, one plane can do three times the work of ground equipment, which cuts down on fuel usage. By using a plane, we also avoided any soil compaction.

Planes used in agriculture may take off and land between 30 and 100 times a day. The landing strip might be paved or a rough area in a field.    

Pilots must have a commercial pilots license and a commercial pesticide applicators license. This is a specialized field, requiring specific skills that aren’t used by pilots flying commercial planes. I looked at a few websites for Agriculture Flight Schools and, in addition to 40 hours of flight training, pilots also take classes in navigation with and without GPS, choosing spray patterns, loading and mixing chemicals, and other topics. 

Do you use aerial applicators on your farm?

MEET YOUR NEW BOSS: PART 1

Ceci Snyder, vice president of consumer marketing, National Pork Board

Ceci Synder

Every six months, we do a consumer tracking survey. Consumption skews slightly higher for boomers – but not by much. People who enjoy cooking eat the most pork, no matter their age.

There are four significant food trends we see.

• World cuisine. Korean cuisine is gaining popularity, and we have developed national pork advertisements that include this cuisine.

• Fewer food additives. Our marketing focuses on pork that is sold fresh, so this trend fits us pretty well, too.

• Minority gains. We have rapidly growing populations of Latino, Asian, and African-American consumers. For many, pork is the preferred meat choice, so that’s working in our favor.

• Premium products. There is a growing demand for some niche products, and producers are responding. Even large packers, for example, have programs to produce pork raised without antibiotics. We continually measure consumer attitudes about on-farm practices.

One new product demand we see is for a prime-type pork product with darker color, higher marbling, and other attributes. Some producers will provide the product and the genetics for this demand. It will be good for producers and consumers.

Patrick Archer, president, American Peanut Council

Patrick Archer

Nuts are a good source of plant-based protein, low in fat, low in carbs, and healthy. Peanuts are a very sustainable crop. They’re a legume and a great rotation crop. Yields have gone up, so we produce more peanuts with the same resources. Peanuts are not genetically modified. Those are all important things to millennial consumers especially.

Of all peanuts grown, 57% are sold as peanut butter. It’s not a highly processed product; we just grind them up and add a small amount of a stabilizing additive to prevent separation. We also have all-natural peanut butters with no additives.

Our biggest consumer challenge is peanut allergies. Farmers have spent over $10 million for research and education on that subject. 

Serena Schaffner, director of marketing communications, American Egg Board

Serena Schaffner

We often see food trends start in restaurants and then impact at-home consumption. For instance, the growth of egg sandwiches at quick-serve restaurants has resulted in more consumers making them at home for a fast weekday breakfast. 

One of the most relevant food trends is consumers’ appetite for protein, especially at breakfast. There are benefits of eating protein throughout the day, rather than most of it at dinner. Eggs fit this trend with nothing artificial, which is also increasingly important to Americans. 

• You can now find ready-to-eat hard-boiled eggs at many local retailers. This caters to busy, on-the-go consumers today. 
• Consumers now have a variety of egg choices, such as cage-free and organic.
• Per capita egg consumption is at a 30-year high.

Kevin Schooley, executive director, North American Strawberry Growers Association

Kevin Schooley

Our members are mostly smaller growers offering pick-your-own service and roadside stands. We consider ourselves the original local producers. 

We went through a time when big growers from California were dominating retail strawberry sales, but the trends are switching back. Many of our growers now partner with grocers to provide local food to stock their shelves. We like this. Our growers are positioned to meet the rising demand for a fresh, local product.

Organized Private Sector presents Recovery Plan to Federal Govt.

The Organised Private Sector (OPS) has presented an economy recovery plan to the federal government of Nigeria.

The President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Frank Udenba-Jacobs made the presentation on behalf of the OPS to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo during the 2nd Presidential Business Forum at the State House, Abuja.

The group comprises the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (NASME) and Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI).

Lauding the efforts of the federal government towards economic resurgence the OPS stated that to achieve a good result, the federal government must address issues of access to foreign exchange by the real sector, re-capitalisation of the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture, provision of long-term funding for the industrial sector through urgent and targeted operations of the Development Bank of Nigeria, as well as resource-based industrialisation.

The group also urged the federal government to strongly oppose the European Union (EU)/Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Economic Partnership Agreement which, according to the group would lead to de-industrialisation which will in turn limit investments and manufacturing growth in West Africa, particularly Nigeria.

“The implication of this, if entered into, is that our economy will remain a provider of raw materials and an importer of finished products,” the group said.

The OPS advised the federal government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to patronise made-in-Nigeria products and enforce the Procurement Act as this would help to create employment and encourage local manufacturers.

“Our expenditure in favour of imported products is detrimental to the growth of local industry as it increases employment in the country of origin and simultaneously increases poverty in our land,” it noted.

Also commending the Central Bank’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), the OPS recommended that the ABP be expanded to include medium-scale as well as large-scale integrated processors to act as anchor companies so as to increase private sector involvement in the scheme in order to boost production of key commodities,

The group added that this will soothe supply of inputs to agro processors and address food security in Nigeria.

MAN calls for review of 41 Imported Items CBN ban from Forex

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has pleaded with the Federal Government to review the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) foreign exchange policy, which placed ban on importers of 41 items from accessing forex in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Markets.

Speaking in Lagos, MAN President Dr. Udemba Jacobs said some of the items that were restricted from accessing the forex market could not be sourced locally.

“The association has done an analysis on the banned items and we broke the 41 items into 110 and of the 110, 75 are raw materials for our members. It is these 75 items we ask the Federal Government to remove from the list so that our members can source forex to buy their raw materials,” he said.

AgroNigeria recalls that in 2015, the CBN issued a directive stopping some imported goods and services from the list of items valid for forex which in turn barred access to foreign currency for entrepreneurs who used such products as raw materials.

Some of these banned goods include: cement, Margarine, Palm kernel/Palm oil, Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey, products/vegetables oil, Metal boxes and containers, Enamelware,  Steel drums, Steel pipes, Wire rods(deformed and not deformed), Iron rods and reinforcing bar, Wire mesh, Meat and processed meat products, Wood particle boards and panels, etc.

Jacobs said about 44 of its members have closed shop as a result of the lack of raw materials.

“We have lost about 44 of our members. They have gone out of business because of their inability to source foreign exchange to bring in the materials,” he said.

The MAN president however called on the government to review the 41 items that will involve the stakeholders to resolve manufacturers’ inaccessibility to forex.

“Such raw materials that cannot be locally available should be removed from the items,’’ he said.

COMMODITY EXCHANGE PARTNERS NOA ON FARMERS’ EDUCATION

The Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) have agreed to conduct a national public enlightenment programme on the operations of the exchange.

The Managing Director/CEO of NCX, Mrs Zaheera Baba-Ari, who visited the NOA headquarters in Abuja, said the core objective of the exchange hinged on the provision of an efficient and transparent trading platform for the sale and appropriate pricing of Nigerian agro-commodities.

A statement by Mr. Chris Echikwu, the NCX’s Head, Corporate Communication, quoted Mrs Baba-Ari as saying the exchange would serve as a veritable source of employment provision and revenue generation for the federal government.

Mrs Baba-Ari stated that NCX is partnering NOA to leverage on its wide ranging national public enlightenment apparatus to educate Nigerian farmers and consumers of agro-commodities on the benefits of patronising the exchange.

The Director-General of the NOA, Malam Garba Abari, pledged the readiness of his organisation to work with NCX in its mission of improving the livelihood of Nigerian farmers.

It was agreed that a joint NOA/NCX Committee would be established in due course to develop the proposed national enlightenment programme on the benefits of NCX operations to the national economy.