Planting from vegetative material - cgiar

2. How can forages be used to improve
soil fertility?
Many farmers plant forages near their houses so they can
keep their animals closer to home. This has many benefits
but one of the most important is that manure is
concentrated and collected more easily. Farmers can use
this manure to improve the yield of vegetables, food
crops, fruit trees and forages. Often, manure is the only
fertiliser available for sustaining agricultural production
in remote upland areas.
Another way to improve soil fertility is by planting forage
legumes to provide additional nitrogen to the farming
system. Forage legumes can substantially improve soil
fertility, but only if a substantial amount of the leaf is
returned to the soil as litter or mulch. A more common way
of using forage legumes to improve soil fertility is to feed
the legume leaf to animals and use the manure as fertiliser.
Manure collection system (Sepaku,
Indonesia). [WS]
Manure improves soil fertility
and crop yields (Palawan,
Philippines). [JH]
41