Monday, September 20, 2010

Tropical Farming Interventions







I generally do not concur with a lot of the suggestions put out here, mostly because they demand increasing sophistication through education which is simply impractical to provide anytime soon.  I suspect the supposed benefit is in actual conflict with the farm economy itself and is far too easily set aside and represents only a temporary fix.

Good management must be taught and supported economically.

Far more important is the general implementation of terra preta methods on all crop lands.  It is easily learned and immediately improves the farm economy and can even be made a requirement for farm lending by providing a value lift for measured terra preta.

It is the sort of incentive that will motivate millions to find ways to produce terra preta soil.  The payoff is a permanently improved soil that eventually leaves of the use of any chemical fertilizers.

Otherwise, again we return to finding ways to reward competent forest management.  There we need to harness current practices to be sustaining rather than exploitive.  The best way there may simply be a community chipper allowing private owners to groom woodlands every year or so as needed.  The chip production can then be reduced to salable charcoal in the same makeshift kiln that produces biochar.

The woodlots need to be individually owned for this to work well and banks can also encourage good management.



Tropical farming the climate-friendly way

 

Sep 13, 2010

 

http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/43730