NEWS
that the easy decomposable leaves con-
taining the most nutrients were already
decomposed by the microorganism.
Only the woody plant material contain-
ing the less digestible tannins and lignin
fragments in the residues were left. It is
in decay or decomposition that this or-
ganic matter becomes useful as it be-
comes the fuel for ‘bacterial fires’ in the
soil, which operates as a factory produc-
ing plant nutrients.
Photo 5 shows the maize crop at tas-
seling and silking stage with no signs
of any nutrient deficiencies. The lower
older leaves remain green. By April 2017
the predicted maize yield on this field
was 7.5 ton/ha, indicating by all stand-
ards to a successful regeneration (resto-
ration) of a degraded soil into full maize
production using the principles of CA
and ISFM. A good tool to monitor soil
fertility or the uptake of plant nutrients
is leave analysis (at this growth stage);
plant nutrient levels should match the
values shown in Table 4.
Conclusion
This case study has demonstrated that
CA facilitates the successful application
of ISFM, the recovery of critical soil eco-
system functions and the restoration of
degraded soils. This process requires
from producers a quality implementa-
tion and adaptation of CA practices
such as crop diversity and more specifi-
cally, multi-species cover crop systems.
It also requires an understanding of soil
health and a long-term vision on soil
restoration or regeneration, especially
under dry and sandy soil conditions.
References
1. Janzen, H.H., 2002. The soil Car-
bon dilemma: Shall we hoard
it or use it? Soil Biology & Bio-
chemistry. Agriculture and Ag-
ri-Food Canada, P.O Box 3000,
Lethbridge, Alta.,Canada TIJ 4BI
2. Hoeft, R.G. and Peck, T.R., 1991.
Soil testing and fertility. In: Illinois
Agronomy Handbook, Circular
1311, University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign, IL, USA.
Figure 5: Maize established after the summer cover crop showing no signs of nutrient deficiencies.
Congress 54 Organising Committee are waiting for student
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19
Grassroots
Vol 19
No 1
March 2019