IFOAM Training Manual: Training Manual for Organic Agriculture in the Humid Tropics

The first IFOAM Training Manual for Organic Agriculture in the Tropics (the Basic Manual) was published in 2004. The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) together with partners of the organic movement in the Tropics were commissioned by IFOAM to complete two new training manuals that build on the Basic Manual. The new IFOAM training manuals address the two basic climatic zones of the Tropics, the Arid and Semi-Arid Tropics, and the Humid Tropics. For both new manuals, already existing material was collected, screened and condensed into comprehensive training manuals. Additionally, a large number of farmers, trainers and scientists were asked for their experience. Partner institutions from the Tropics actively collaborated in the development of the manuals. The partners of the manual for the Arid and Semi-Arid Tropics are from Asia (India), Africa (Senegal and Tunisia) and Latin America (Chile). The training manuals contain case studies of organic farming systems, describe successful organic marketing initiatives and offer guidelines for the main crops of the Tropics. With the informative text, transparencies and didactical recommendations the training manuals offer a resource basis for trainers with the idea of encouraging individual adaptation and further development of the material according to need. The training manuals are available on separate CDs in English, French and Spanish. The training manuals were commissioned by IFOAM and funded through its program IFOAM-GROWING ORGANIC II (I-GO II). The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) provided co-funding

Merkblätter kommen gut an

Gute Noten: In einer Umfrage wollte das FiBL wissen, wie die Beratungsunterlagen wie Merkblätter und Dossiers bei den Leserinnen und Lesern ankommen. Dem bioaktuell vom März wurde dazu ein Fragebogen beigelegt, 271 Bögen kamen ausgefüllt zurück. Hier die Resultate

Determine compost quality using the cress tests (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

Cress tests are a simple tool to test the phytotoxicity of composts. They are easy to carry out and analyse, and they only require few materials

Rolling of grains to prevent winter kill damage (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

The pressure of the roller stimulates not only the forma¬tion of roots and improves access to water, but stimulates also the tiller of the grain increasing its stability and thus reducing the risk of falling over. Practical recommendation • Rolling requires dry soil in order to prevent the soil from sticking to the roller and ripping out the plants (especially when using smooth rollers). • The corrugated roller must not damage the plants too much. Take special care when using sharp-edged rollers. • Every mechanical interference puts the plants under stress. For this reason, it is advised to go at a maximum rolling speed of 5 km/h. Notes • Even in densely sown or strongly fertilized spelt crops, the rolling is recommended. It weakens the main shoot and increases growth on side shoots, which improves the stability of the plants at the expense of longitudinal growth. Spelt is often rolled later (up until the 1-node stage) and more aggressively than winter wheat

Weed control in soy with the finger weeder (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

The finger weeder is the only mechanical hoe that also controls weeds within the row thanks to a slanted position and adjustable overlap of the finger plates, and it greatly reduces manual labour. It offers good performance for most row crops. • Pass once with the harrow 2 to 3 days after sowing the soy (blind harrowing), when many seed weeds have al-ready sprouted. At this moment, the harrow is able to efficiently cover or expose the weeds (up to 90 % efficiency), but avoid damaging the soy seedlings. • A second round with the harrow, applying little tine pressure (a precision tined-weeder recommended), is possible when the soy plants have developed their first pair of leaves. • From the soy's two-internode stage (plant height of about 15 cm) onwards, the use of the finger weeder is possible, provided the crop is well-rooted and the weeds are - if possible - still at their sprouting stage. Ideally the finger weeder is combined with a hoeing device with duck-foot tines. • Depending on the level of weed infestation, you can wait for up to 2 weeks between hoeing rounds. Resprouting weeds can be controlled 1-3 days after a hoeing round with the harrow. Usually, 2 to 4 hoeing rounds per crop should suffice

Calculate the risk of wireworm infestation in the field (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

• In spring, with a soil temperature of at least 8 °C, place a pot full of cereal or maize grains into water and allow it soak for 24 hours. • Spread out the soaked grains on about 20 cardboard or plastic plates, pot traps, stockings with adequate mesh size or similar materials. Sealable containers must have several holes; through which the worms can access the trap. • Position the traps at a depth of 10 cm with at least 10 to 15 traps per field. The more traps per ha, the more reliable the results. Cover the traps with earth to soil-level and mark the locations. • After 7 to 10 days, dig out the traps, collect them and count the wireworms. • If one or more wireworms per trap is found, the field is infested quite strongly: economic losses are to be expected. In this case, cultivating sensitive crops like potatoes, salad, carrots or onions should be avoided. Cereals and millet are considered tolerant crops. • Attention: If the traps contain few to no wireworms, it does not mean that potatoes should be cultivated on the field

Reducing the use of copper in potatoes (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

• Lower accumulation of copper in the soil. • Less damage to microorganisms in the soil. • Potential saving in costs of spraying agent. • Improved distribution of spraying agent over the required period of treatment until exhaustion of the permitted maximum quantity. Practical recommendation Adapting dosage to state of infestation: As long as there is no infestation in a radius of 50 km, refrain from treating. Observe national information and alert services. As soon as the first case of infestation in the region is reported, protect potatoes with 200 to 250 g of pure copper per hectare. If potatoes in your own or neighbouring fields are afflicted by leaf blight, increase the dosage to 800 g and do not wait longer than a week in between treatments. Adapting dosage to time of infestation: If yield production is already advanced at time of infection (often after mid/end of June), reduce the copper dosage or forgo its use. Carry out a sample digging to evaluate yield production. Adapting treatment to the weather: Apply the copper shortly before periods of bad weather to ensure protection during an occurrence of rain for as long as possible. Repeat the treatment once the plants are dry again. Tips • Due to the purely protective effect of cupper, a regularly applied film on the upper and lower surface of the leaves is crucial for an effective protection of the potato plants. New application techniques (e.g. upper- and lower-leaf sprayer) help in achieving a regularly applied copper film. • New copper compounds give a better distribution on the leaf surface, as well as an increased rain-resistance, which enables lower dosages

Reducing weed seed pressure with the false seedbed technique (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

The false seedbed technique reduces the weed seed bank in the topsoil and, as a result, significantly reduces competition of annual weeds in the succeeding crop. • Prepare a regular seedbed 2 to 4 weeks before the planned seeding date of the next crop. • Let the weeds germinate and grow to the 2- to 4-leaf stage, the most effective stage for weed control. • Uproot the weeds to a depth of 3 to 5 cm using a harrow comb or a flexible or chain harrow. • If (a) weed density is high, (b) if you have 7 to 10 days available for sowing the crop, or if (c) weed competition in the following crop is very critical, repeat the procedure a second time before sowing the crop as usual. Notes • Weed seed germination is highest in humid soil with a fine tilth. If the seedbed is too dry or cloddy, germination is reduced and the impact of the method is limited. • Effectiveness of the method can be limited at soil temperatures below 10 °C. • Preferably use a power take-off or friction-driven machines to avoid soil structure damages

Intercropping grain peas with barley (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

Barley prevents pea lodging, thus reducing the losses during threshing, and increases the quality of the harvested crop. The cereal crop also improves the soil cover, suppressing weeds. Growing two crops at the same time reduces the risk of yield loss. • The seed bed should be not too fine-grained after cultivation or reduced tillage (advantage: better channel flow from deeper soil layers during drought periods). A further possibility is mulch-till, whilst on heavy soils a plough with subsoiler might be needed. Possibly application of green manure or compost. • For seeders with only a single tank, mix the seeds well at the ratio of 80 % peas and 40 % barley (relating to the standard sowing quantities of both crops) before filling the seeder. Until sowing, repeatedly check the homogeneity of the mixture, and for seeders with two or more tanks, apply the seeds of the mixture partners separately. • Sow with a conventional seeder, not too early to keep the pea plants small enough during winter, and with a row spacing of 12 cm and a placement depth of 3 to 4 cm into the same or in separate rows (depending on the sowing technique). • Weed control is usually not needed. If there is high weed pressure, harrow or hoe it once. • No nitrogen fertilising for the crop. Irrigation would only be needed in an extremely dry year. • Harvest: Adjust harvester sieves to peas. Open threshing concave and hulling bars wide enough. Low drum rota-tion. Keep the air flow lower compared to a pure pea harvest; check regularly for grain loss. Place the Vario-table in the back. Adjust to an aggressive cutting angle. • In order to avoid legume fatigue in the soil, only cultivate the mixed crop every seventh year. Do not grow lupins, vetches, Lucerne or pure stands of red clover in between

Catch crop in maize (OK-Net Arable Practice Abstract)

Outcome: • Reduction of soil erosion, given a good development. • Suppression of seed-propagated weeds. • Better load-carrying capacity of the soil during harvest. • Fixation of nitrogen thanks to the legumes, and utilisation of nutrients in the soil after maize harvest. • Grazing possible immediately after maize harvest. Inconveniences: • Competition for water in the case of severe drought. • Cost of seeds. How to proceed: • Sow the maize at the beginning of May. • If possible, harrow a first time before appearance of the maize plants (blind harrowing). Second harrowing should take place at a plant height of 10 cm, when the maize plants are well rooted. Between a plant size of 10 to 20 cm a first hoeing should take place. • Apply liquid manure at 25-30 m3 per ha. • When the maize plants reach a height of about 20 to 30 cm (from 4- to 6-leaf stage), undertake a second hoeing. Combine the second hoeing with simultaneous sowing of the catch crop into the weed-free crop. • Recommended pure crops/crop mixtures: - Pure-clover crop: small-leaved white clover, hop clover, red clover (200 g/a) or sub clover (300 g/a). White clover and hop clover are less competitive than red clover or sub clover. Attention: Egyptian, Italian and Persian clover are normally too competitive. - Clover-mixtures are less risky: E.g. sub clover/red clover (at a mixing ratio of 5:2, a total of 300 g/a) or white clover/hop clover 1:1, a total of 200 g/a. - For farms with livestock, mixtures of grass and clover are an option. They can be used for grazing in autumn: E.g. white clover/smooth meadow-grass or meadow fescue or ryegrass (at a mixing ratio of 1:1, a total of about 250 g/a). Attention: ryegrass can be too competitive depending on the weather conditions. Tips: • If possible, sow before a longer precipitation period. • Sowing of catch crops is only successful until the maize reaches a height of around 30 cm. Late sowings are strongly suppressed by shading of the crop and cannot properly develop. • During long drought periods, competition for water and nutrients can impair the development of the catch crop or, if the catch crop grows too lush, the development of the maize. • In the case of the presence of root spreading weeds like docks and couch grass, a catch crop is not recommended, as this would require tillage after the maize harvest. • The catch crop is only profitable if it remains for the duration of winter. Depending on its development and use, it could also be utilised in the following summer. If it is incorporated into the soil in spring, it has a high value as a green manure crop