A Guide to Conservation Agriculture in Zimbabwe - Canadian ...

Promoting Conservation Agriculture Among Farmers
section ONE
IPM is introduced through farmer field schools (FFS),
an experiential learning approach which combines
adult education with individual and group capacitybuilding.
In Zimbabwe organisations promoting
conservation agriculture have also adopted FFS
principles and methods.
Agro-forestry
This is designed to provide tree and other crop
products and at the same time protect, conserve,
diversify and sustain vital economic, environmental,
human and natural resources.
Agro-forestry is another approach that builds on processes
that occur naturally and can be combined with
conservation agriculture. It means the growing of both
trees and agricultural or horticultural crops on the same
piece of land. This is designed to provide tree and other
crop products and at the same time protect, conserve,
diversify and sustain vital economic, environmental,
human and natural resources. Agro-forestry differs from
traditional forestry and agriculture by its focus on the
interactions among components rather than just on the
individual components themselves.
Research over the past 20 years has confirmed that agroforestry
can be more biologically productive, more
profitable, and more sustainable than forestry or
agricultural monocultures
(www.worldagroforestrycenter.org). Traditional agroforestry
practices in Zimbabwe include planting of fruit
trees in fields and on homesteads; others that have been
introduced include multi-purpose windbreaks, riverbank
buffer strips, contour plantings for erosion control, and
fertility plantings of nitrogen-fixing trees. Rotation of grain
crops with leguminous shrubs can help eradicate Striga
weed. Systems designed to improve fodder production
can work in synergy with conservation agriculture to
address the challenge of competing claims on crop
residues.
Multipurpose trees such as the Moringa, also known as
the ‘miracle tree’, can be integrated into conservation
agriculture and its benefits multiplied: when planted with
other crops, it adds nutrients to the soil and so increases
the crop yield. The pods, leaves, flowers and seeds are all
edible; the oil from the seeds can be used for cooking,
soap manufacture and as fuel for lamps. The Moringa tree
grows rapidly, even in poor soils, sometimes flowering
and producing fruit within a year of planting. The plant
can be used to prepare natural medicines to treat skin
infections and as a nutritional supplement for people
living with HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, the trees can be
grown as live fences and windbreaks; they can supply
firewood on an ongoing basis through coppicing; and
the leftover leaves and seeds can be used as animal fodder
and fertilizer. More information can be obtained from
your local AGRITEX office or from ICRAF.
Bamboo soil cover between crop lines
Farming for the Future
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