Mixed farming and yams
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Date Issued
2004Language
enType
AudioAccessibility
Open AccessMetadata
Show full item recordCitation
CTA. 2004. Mixed farming and yams. Rural Radio Resource Pack 04/01. Wageningen, The Netherlands: CTA.
Permanent link to cite or share this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57254
Abstract/Description
Nkosu Ephraim, a plant health specialist from Cameroon, describes land preparation methods, timing of weed control, and limitations that apply to herbicides and animal traction.
Notes
Cue:
When clearing land for cultivation, one of the most simple and cheap methods to use is burning. However, despite being a popular and traditional farming practice in many parts of Africa, burning does have some unfortunate side effects. While it may destroy weed seeds, and therefore reduce weed levels in future crops, is also destroys organic matter in the topsoil, making the soil more prone to erosion and less able to hold water. Burning also kills plants and animals, some of which may be useful pest predators.
If farmers want to avoid burning, what alternatives are there? Simply turning over the soil to bury the unwanted plants is possible, but deep ploughing can be more effective. This pushes weeds and weed seeds deep into the soil, making them less able to compete with young crop plants. Of course when the weeds do emerge, they still need to be dealt with. To find out more about weed control options available to small scale farmers, Martha Chindong spoke to Nkosu Ephraim, who is in charge of plant health services in the North West province of Cameroon.
IN: ?To start off when farmers ?
OUT: ?few farms they will harvest.?
DUR?N 5?34?
Subjects
CROPS;Countries
CameroonOrganizations Affiliated to the Authors
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural CooperationCollections
- CTA Rural Radio [690]