Nederlandse versie hieronder
Not a single day passes without news of the increasing challenges farmers face in Europe and in much of the world. Rainfall has become more erratic and intense, and heatwaves are becoming the new normal. We should all be concerned about the speed at which climate change is affecting our planet. How we decide to live, what to eat, where to source our food, and how we spend our leisure time cut across all of society: agriculture, industry, tourism, transport, as well as urban planning and rural land use.
According to the main Spanish farmersâ association, the Coordinator of Farmersâ and Livestock Ownersâ Organizations (COAG), drought affects 60% of Spain’s countryside and has destroyed crops across 3.5 million hectares. This is more than double the farm land we have in Belgium and six times that of Flanders.
Three years of very low rainfall and high temperatures have put Spain officially into long-term drought. This year, losses are not limited to wheat, barley and maize, but also expected for nuts, orchards, vineyards, olives, sunflower and vegetable farming. As vegetation is scarce, bees are failing to make honey. Beekeepers are facing a third consecutive season without a harvest. According to a recent CNN article Disappearing lakes, dead crops and trucked-in water, these conditions point to a new reality for parts of Europe, which is warming twice as fast as the global average.
Farms are not the only places in trouble. Municipal water systems are dryer across much of southern Europe. In Italy, in April this year extreme drought was already affecting Lombardy and Piedmont, with 19 towns experiencing the highest level of shortage. Some places have already started receiving water in tanker trucks.
As it takes 15,000 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of beef and 3,000 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of cheese, it is no wonder that livestock farming is also at risk. After all, farmers need pasture to feed their animals. When a choice has to be made between ensuring drinking water for its citizens or irrigating pasture and crops to feed animals, governments usually favour cities over farms, but countries need both.
Often governments come up with short-term solutions, such as asking people to stop watering their lawns or washing their cars, instead of planning for long-term measures to conserve water. Different food and fodder crops (and combinations) need to be promoted; more trees and living hedges need to be planted in and around fields to reduce evaporation by the hot sun and dry winds. Above all, measures are needed to store more carbon in the soil.
Enabling citizens to have online access to real-time monitoring of the depth of the groundwater, a natural resource that is invisible, could help to sensitise all of us about the need to conserve water. Groundwater drops quickly due to continuous pumping yet rises only slowly as it is recharged by rainwater from the surface. While monitoring is needed, let us not be naïve and think that when the groundwater table is recharged, households, industry and farming can go back to using water in an unlimited way. Already in rural Belgium, even though we had the wettest spring since records began to be kept in 1833, in the countryside we see many old oak trees suffering from the three previous years of water and heat stress.
In many European countries, agricultural lobby groups aggressively sustain their opinion that the livestock sector should not shrink in order to survive. With all that is happening, how long will they be able to continue taking such an unrealistic position? Animals can be properly fed with technologies that use water and fossil fuels more efficiently , but technological solutions also have their limitations. If lobby groups do not help their members to adapt, the climate will soon dictate what is possible and what is not. The changes we see in southern Europe should set off alarms in the north as well.
If we are unable to quickly and drastically curb greenhouse gas emissions and invest in an agriculture that helps to cool the planet, rather than deplete its natural resources, we will soon no longer need to fly to the Sahara to see a desert. Climate refugees will come from Southern Europe, and we will scratch our heads and wonder why many of our favourite food products are no longer available or affordable.
Sources
Bertelli, Michele. 2023. ‘No water, no life’: Drought threatens farmers and food in Italy. https://www.context.news/climate-risks/no-water-no-life-drought-threatens-farmers-and-food-in-italy
CNN. 2023. Disappearing lakes, dead crops and trucked-in water: Drought-stricken Spain is running dry. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/02/europe/spain-drought-catalonia-heat-wave-climate-intl/index.html
Related Agro-Insight blogs
Gabe Brown, agroecology on a commercial scale
Recovering from the quinoa boom
Killing the soil with chemicals (and bringing it back to life)
Farmer learning videos on adaptation to climate change
Improved pasture for fertile soil
Living windbreaks to protect the soil
Mulch for a better soil and crop
Intercropping maize with pigeon peas
Europese woestijnen, binnenkort
Er gaat geen dag voorbij zonder nieuws over de toenemende uitdagingen waar boeren in Europa en een groot deel van de wereld voor staan. Regenval is grilliger en intenser geworden en hittegolven worden het nieuwe normaal. We zouden ons allemaal zorgen moeten maken over de snelheid waarmee klimaatverandering onze planeet beĂŻnvloedt. De manier waarop we besluiten te leven, wat we eten, waar we ons voedsel vandaan halen en hoe we onze vrije tijd doorbrengen, heeft invloed op de hele maatschappij: landbouw, industrie, toerisme, transport, maar ook stadsplanning en landgebruik op het platteland.
Volgens de belangrijkste Spaanse boerenorganisatie COAG treft de droogte 60% van het Spaanse platteland en heeft het gewassen vernietigd op 3,5 miljoen hectare. Dat is meer dan het dubbele van de landbouwgrond in België en zes keer zoveel als in Vlaanderen.
Drie jaar van zeer weinig neerslag en hoge temperaturen hebben Spanje officieel in langdurige droogte gebracht. Dit jaar blijven de verliezen niet beperkt tot tarwe, gerst en maĂŻs, maar worden ook verliezen verwacht voor noten, boomgaarden, wijngaarden, olijven, zonnebloemen en de groenteteelt. Omdat de vegetatie schaars is, lukt het bijen niet om honing te maken. Imkers worden geconfronteerd met een derde opeenvolgend seizoen zonder oogst. Volgens een recent CNN-artikel Verdwijnende meren, dode gewassen en aangevoerd water wijzen deze omstandigheden op een nieuwe realiteit voor delen van Europa, dat twee keer zo snel opwarmt als het wereldwijde gemiddelde.
Niet alleen boerderijen hebben problemen. Gemeentelijke watersystemen drogen in een groot deel van Zuid-Europa uit. In Italië werden Lombardije en Piemonte in april van dit jaar al getroffen door extreme droogte, waarbij 19 steden te kampen hadden met het grootste tekort. Sommige plaatsen zijn al begonnen met het aanvoeren van water in tankwagens.
Aangezien er 15.000 liter water nodig is om 1 kilo rundvlees te produceren en 3.000 liter water om 1 kilo kaas te produceren, is het geen wonder dat ook de veehouderij gevaar loopt. Boeren hebben immers weiland nodig om hun dieren te voeden. Als er een keuze moet worden gemaakt tussen het veiligstellen van drinkwater voor de burgers of het irrigeren van weilanden en gewassen om dieren te voeden, geven regeringen meestal de voorkeur aan steden boven boerderijen, maar landen hebben beide nodig.
Vaak komen regeringen met kortetermijnoplossingen, zoals mensen vragen om te stoppen met het besproeien van hun gazons of het wassen van hun auto’s, in plaats van langetermijn maatregelen te plannen om water te besparen. Verschillende voedsel- en voedergewassen (en combinaties daarvan) moeten worden gepromoot; er moeten meer bomen en levende heggen worden geplant in en rond akkers om de verdamping door de hete zon en droge wind te verminderen. Bovenal zijn er maatregelen nodig om meer koolstof in de bodem op te slaan.
Door burgers online toegang te geven tot realtime monitoring van de diepte van het grondwater, een natuurlijke hulpbron die onzichtbaar is, kunnen we ons allemaal bewust worden van de noodzaak om water te besparen. Grondwater daalt snel als gevolg van voortdurend pompen, maar stijgt slechts langzaam als het wordt aangevuld door regenwater van het oppervlak. Hoewel monitoring nodig is, moeten we niet naïef zijn en denken dat wanneer het grondwaterpeil weer wordt aangevuld, huishoudens, industrie en landbouw weer onbeperkt water kunnen gebruiken. Hoewel we in België de natste lente sinds het begin van de metingen in 1833 hebben gehad, zien we op het platteland al veel oude eikenbomen die lijden onder de drie voorgaande jaren van water- en hittestress.
In veel Europese landen houden landbouwlobbygroepen agressief vol dat de veehouderij niet mag inkrimpen om te overleven. Hoe lang kunnen ze zo’n onrealistisch standpunt blijven innemen, nu er zoveel gebeurt? Dieren kunnen goed gevoed worden met technologieĂ«n die efficiĂ«nter gebruik maken van water en fossiele brandstoffen, maar technologische oplossingen hebben ook hun beperkingen. Als lobbygroepen hun leden niet helpen om zich aan te passen, zal het klimaat snel dicteren wat mogelijk is en wat niet. De veranderingen die we in Zuid-Europa zien, zouden ook in het noorden alarmbellen moeten doen rinkelen.
Als we er niet in slagen om de uitstoot van broeikasgassen snel en drastisch te beperken en te investeren in een landbouw die de planeet helpt afkoelen in plaats van haar natuurlijke hulpbronnen uit te putten, dan hoeven we binnenkort niet meer naar de Sahara te vliegen om een woestijn te zien. Klimaatvluchtelingen zullen uit Zuid-Europa komen en wij zullen ons op het hoofd krabben en ons afvragen waarom veel van onze favoriete voedingsproducten niet meer verkrijgbaar of betaalbaar zijn.
A movie about rural people, filmed with them, in their communities, is rare, even more so when it touches on important topics like climate change.
In the Bolivian film Utama, directed by Santiaga Loayza, the main characters, Virgilio and Sisa are an elderly couple living on the Bolivian Altiplano, in a two-room adobe house. They still love each other, after many years together. Virgilio has never forgiven his son, for moving to the city, years ago. When the coupleÂŽs grandson, ClĂ©ver, comes to visit, the old man is angry. He feels that ClĂ©verâs father has sent him to take Virgilio and Sisa to the city.
The stunning photography shows the stark beauty of the hills and mountains rising from the high plains. The characters are believable and authentic. The title, Utama, means âour homeâ in the Aymara language.
The story takes place near the end of a long drought, exacerbated by climate change. Virgilio, Cléver and some of the neighbors hike to a mountain top to perform a ritual to bring the rain, which never comes. Some families leave for the city. Virgilio develops an agonizing cough, refuses to let Cléver take him to the hospital, and dies at home.
The elderly couple is played by JosĂ© Calcina and Luisa Quispe, who are married in real life, and are from the community where the movie was filmed, Santiago de Chuvica, in PotosĂ, Bolivia. They were cast because of their obvious affection for each other. This realism is accentuated when the couple speak to each other in Quechua, a native language of Bolivia.
Loayza had previously visited Santiago de Chuvica while making a documentary film. In reality, the village is an outpost for travelers visiting the famous Salar de Uyuni, a giant salt flat, an ancient lake bed surrounded by sparse vegetation.
This is one of the most remote parts of Bolivia, and one of the most marginal environments for agriculture in the world. Quinoa is the only crop that will grow here. Until the mid-twentieth century, local farmers made their living by packing out quinoa on the backs of llamas, to trade for food in other parts of Bolivia. It was an ingenious, and unusual cropping system, based on one crop and one animal.
But as the world gets hotter and dryer, places like Chuvica will only become more stressed.
Although not shown in the movie, some parts of Bolivia are far more favorable to farming, with spring-like weather much of the year, where many crops will grow. People are also leaving these areas for the city. Whole communities are emptying out. In the provincial valleys of Cochabamba it is common to see few homes except for ruined, empty farm houses. The grandparents who lived there may have died, but their heirs are still tilling the fields, commuting from town. Farming is often the most resilient part of rural life, and the last to be abandoned.
Climate change is a real problem, and will turn some people into environmental refugees. But villagers are also leaving more favorable farm country, pulled by the opportunities for jobs, education, health care and commerce in the cities. If rural-to-urban migration is seen as a problem, then country life needs to be made more comfortable, with roads, electricity, potable water, schools and clinics.
At the 2022 Sundance Film Festival Utama won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic Competition. Â Hopefully other filmmakers will make more movies on climate change, and on rural life. There are lots more stories to tell.
Previous Agro-Insight blogs
Recovering from the quinoa boom
Videos on climate
Recording the weather, also available in Spanish, Quechua and Aymara
Forecasting the weather with an app, also available in Spanish, Quechua and Aymara
Additional reading
SagĂĄrnaga, Rafael 2022 Alejandro Loayza: Hay que hacer que el mundo escuche tus historias. Los Tiempos 13 Feb pp. 2-3.
El PaĂs 2022 âUtamaâ, la historia de amor frente al olvido en el Altiplano que sorprendiĂł en Sundance
Vea la versión en español a continuación
I
n southwestern Bolivia, a whole ecosystem has been nearly destroyed, to export quinoa, but some people are trying to save it.
Boliviaâs southern Altiplano is a harsh place to live. Although it is in the tropical latitudes it is so high, over 3800 meters, that it often freezes. Its climax forest, the tâular, is only a meter tall, made up of native shrubs, grasses and cactuses.
For centuries on the southern Altiplano, farmers grew quinoa, an annual plant with edible seeds, in the shelter of little hills. No other crop would grow in this high country. People herded llamas on the more exposed plains of the Altiplano. The farmers would take quinoa in packs, carried by llamas, to other parts of Bolivia to trade for maize, fruit and chuño (traditional freeze-dried potatoes) as well as wool, salt and jerky.
In about 2010 quinoa became a fad food, and export prices soared. Bolivian plant breeder, Alejandro Bonifacio, who is from the Altiplano, estimates that 80% of the tâular was plowed under to grow quinoa from 2010 to 2014.This was the first time that farmers cleared the dwarf forest growing on the open plains.
After the brief quinoa boom ended, in some places, only 30% of the lands cleared on the tâular were still being farmed. The rest had simply been turned into large patches of white sand. The native plants did not grow back, probably because of drought and wind linked to climate change.
At the start of the quinoa boom, Dr. Bonifacio and colleagues at Proinpa, a research agency, realized the severity of the destruction of the native ecosystem, and began to develop a system of regenerative agriculture.
In an early experience, they gathered 20 gunny bags of the seed heads of different species of tâulas, the native shrubs and grasses. They scattered the seeds onto the sandy soil of abandoned fields. Out of several million seeds, only a dozen germinated and only four survived. After their first unsuccessful experience with direct seeding, the researchers and their students learned to grow seeds of native plants in two nurseries on the Altiplano, and then transplant them.
So much native vegetation has been lost that it cannot all be reforested, so researchers worked with farmers in local communities to experiment with live barriers. These were two or three lines of tâula transplanted from the nurseries to create living barriers three meters wide. The live barriers could be planted as borders around the fields, or as strips within the large ones, spaced 30 to 45 meters apart. This helped to slow down soil erosion caused by wind, so farmers could grow quinoa (still planted, but in smaller quantities, to eat at home and for the national market, after the end of the export boom). Growing native shrubs as live barriers also gave farmers an incentive to care for these native plants.
By 2022, nearly 8000 meters of live barriers of tâula have been planted, and are being protected by local farmers. The older plants are maturing, thriving and bearing seed. Some local governments and residents have started to drive to Proinpa, to request seedlings to plant, hinting at a renewed interest in these native plants.
The next step in creating a new regenerative agriculture was to introduce a rotation crop into the quinoa system. But on the southern Altiplano, no other crop has been grown, besides quinoa (and a semi-wild relative, qañawa). In this climate, it was impossible even to grow potatoes and other native roots and tubers.
NGOs suggested that farmers rotate quinoa with a legume crop, like peas or broad beans, but these plants died every time.
Bonifacio and colleagues realized that a new legume crop would be required, but that it would have to be a wild, native plant. They began experimenting with native lupines. The domesticated lupine, a legume, produces seeds in pods which remain closed even after the plant matures. When ancient farmers domesticated the lupine, they selected for pods that stayed closed, so the grains would not be lost in the field. But the pods of wild legumes shatter, scattering their seeds on the ground.
Various methods were tried to recover the wild lupine seed, including sifting it out of the sand. Researchers eventually learned that the seed was viable before it was completely dry, before the pod burst. After the seed dried, it went into a four-year dormancy.
In early trials with farmers, the wild lupines have done well as a quinoa intercrop. Llamas will eat them, and the legumes improve the soil. When the quinoa is harvested in March, April and May, the lupine remains as a cover crop, reaching maturity the following year, and protecting the soil.
The quinoa boom was a tragedy. A unique ecosystem was nearly wiped out in four years. The market can provide perverse incentives to destroy a landscape. The research with native windbreaks and cover crops is also accompanied by studies of local cactus and by breeding varieties of quinoa that are well-adapted to the southern Altiplano. This promises to be the basis of a regenerative agriculture, one that respects the local plants, including the animals that eat them, such as the domesticated llama and the wild vicuña, while also providing a livelihood for native people.
Further reading
Bonifacio, Alejandro, Genaro Aroni, Milton Villca & Jeffery W. Bentley 2022 Recovering from quinoa: regenerative agricultural research in Bolivia. Journal of Crop Improvement, DOI: 10.1080/15427528.2022.2135155
Previous Agro-Insight blogs
Wind erosion and the great quinoa disaster
Related videos
Living windbreaks to protect the soil
The wasp that protects our crops
Acknowledgements
Dr. Alejandro Bonifacio works for the Proinpa Foundation. This work was made possible with the kind support of the Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP) of the McKnight Foundation.
RECUPERĂNDOSE DEL BOOM DE LA QUINUA
Por Jeff Bentley, 30 de octubre del 2022
En el suroeste de Bolivia, todo un ecosistema casi se ha destruido para exportar quinua, pero algunas personas intentan salvarlo.
Es difĂcil vivir en el Altiplano sur de Bolivia. Aunque estĂĄ en latitudes tropicales, estĂĄ tan alto, a mĂĄs de 3.800 metros, que a menudo se congela. Su bosque clĂmax, el t’ular, sĂłlo tiene un metro de altura, formado por arbustos, hierbas y cactus nativos.
Durante siglos, en el Altiplano sur, los agricultores cultivaron quinua (una planta de ciclo anual y tallo herbĂĄceo) con semillas comestibles, al abrigo de las pequeñas colinas. NingĂșn otro cultivo crecĂa en esta zona alta. En las llanuras mĂĄs expuestas del Altiplano, la gente arreaba llamas. Los campesinos llevaban la quinua cargados por las llamas, a otras partes de Bolivia para intercambiarla por maĂz, frutas, chuño, lana, sal, y charqui.
Hacia 2010, la quinua se convirtiĂł en un alimento de moda y los precios de exportaciĂłn se dispararon. El fitomejorador boliviano Alejandro Bonifacio, originario del Altiplano, calcula que entre 2010 y 2014 se arĂł el 80% del t’ular para cultivar quinua.
Tras el breve auge de la quinua, en algunas zonas solo el 30% de las tierras desmontadas en el t’ular seguĂan siendo cultivadas. El resto simplemente se habĂa convertido en grandes manchas de arena blanca. Las plantas nativas no volvieron a crecer, probablemente por la sequĂa y el viento atribuible al cambio climĂĄtico).
Al comienzo del boom de la quinua, el Dr. Bonifacio y sus colegas de Proinpa, una agencia de investigaciĂłn, se dieron cuenta de la gravedad de la destrucciĂłn del ecosistema nativo, y comenzaron a desarrollar un sistema de agricultura regenerativa.
En una de las primeras experiencias, reunieron 20 gangochos conteniendo frutos con las diminutas semillas de diferentes especies de t’ulas, los arbustos nativos y pastos. Esparcieron las semillas en el arenoso suelo de los campos abandonados. De varios millones de semillas, sĂłlo germinaron una decena que al final quedaron cuatro plantas sobrevivientes. Tras su primera experiencia frustrante con la siembra directa, los investigadores y sus estudiantes aprendieron a cultivar semillas de plantas nativas en dos viveros del Altiplano con fines de trasplantarlos.
Se ha perdido tanta vegetaciĂłn nativa que no se puede reforestarla toda, asĂ que los investigadores trabajaron con los agricultores de las comunidades locales para experimentar con barreras vivas. Se trataba de dos o tres lĂneas de t’ula trasplantadas desde los viveros para crear barreras vivas de tres metros de ancho. Las barreras vivas podĂan plantarse como bordes alrededor de las parcelas, o como franjas dentro de los campos grandes, con una separaciĂłn de 30 a 45 metros. Esto ayudĂł a frenar la erosiĂłn del suelo causada por el viento, para que los agricultores pudieran cultivar quinua (que aĂșn se siembra, pero en menor cantidad, para comer en casa y para el mercado nacional, tras el fin del boom de las exportaciones). El cultivo de arbustos nativos como barreras vivas tambiĂ©n incentivĂł a los agricultores a cuidar estas plantas nativas.
En 2022, se han plantado casi 8.000 metros de barreras vivas de t’ula, que se protegen por los agricultores locales. Las plantas mĂĄs antiguas estĂĄn madurando, prosperando y formando semilla. Algunos residentes y gobiernos locales han comenzado a llegar a Proinpa, para pedir plantines para plantar, lo que indica un renovado interĂ©s en estas plantas nativas.
El siguiente paso en la creaciĂłn de una nueva agricultura regenerativa era introducir un cultivo de rotaciĂłn en el sistema de la quinua. Pero en el Altiplano sur no se ha cultivado ningĂșn otro cultivo, aparte de la quinua (y un pariente semi-silvestre, la qañawa). En este clima, era imposible incluso cultivar papas y otras raĂces y tubĂ©rculos nativos.
Las ONGs sugirieron a los agricultores que rotaran la quinoa con un cultivo de leguminosas, como arvejas o habas, pero estas plantas morĂan siempre.
Bonifacio y sus colegas se dieron cuenta de que serĂa necesario tener un nuevo cultivo de leguminosas, pero que tendrĂa que ser una planta silvestre y nativa. Empezaron a experimentar con lupinos nativos. El lupino domesticado es el tarwi, una leguminosa, produce semillas en vainas que permanecen cerradas incluso despuĂ©s de que la planta madure. Cuando los antiguos agricultores domesticaron el lupino, seleccionaron las vainas que permanecĂan cerradas, para que los granos no se perdieran en el campo. Pero las vainas de las leguminosas silvestres se rompen, esparciendo sus semillas por el suelo.
Se intentaron varios métodos para recuperar la semilla de lupinos silvestre, incluido tamizando la arena. Los investigadores descubrieron que la semilla era viable antes de estar completamente seca, antes de que la vaina reventara. Una vez seca, la semilla entraba en un periodo de dormancia de cuatro años.
En los primeros ensayos con agricultores, los lupinos silvestres han funcionado bien como cultivo intermedio de la quinoa. Las llamas los comen y las leguminosas mejoran el suelo. Cuando se cosecha la quinoa en marzo, abril y mayo, el lupino permanece como cultivo de cobertura, alcanzando la madurez al año siguiente y protegiendo el suelo.
El boom de la quinoa fue una tragedia. Un ecosistema Ășnico estuvo a punto de desaparecer en cuatro años. El mercado puede ofrecer incentivos perversos para destruir un paisaje. La investigaciĂłn con barreras vivas nativas y cultivos de cobertura tambiĂ©n va acompañada de estudios de cactus locales y del fitomejoramiento de variedades de quinua bien adaptadas al Altiplano sur. Esto promete ser la base de una agricultura regenerativa, que respete las plantas locales, incluidos los animales que se alimentan de ellas, como la llama domesticada y la vicuña silvestre, y al mismo tiempo proporcionando un medio de vida a la gente nativa.
Lectura adicional
Bonifacio, Alejandro, Genaro Aroni, Milton Villca & Jeffery W. Bentley 2022 Recovering from quinoa: regenerative agricultural research in Bolivia. Journal of Crop Improvement, DOI: 10.1080/15427528.2022.2135155
Previamente en el blog de Agro-Insight
Destruyendo el altiplano sur con quinua
Videos sobre el tema
Barreras vivas para proteger el suelo
La avispa que protege nuestros cultivos
Agradecimiento
El Dr. Alejandro Bonifacio trabaja para la FundaciĂłn Proinpa. Este trabajo se hizo con el generoso apoyo del Programa Colaborativo de InvestigaciĂłn de Cultivos (CCRP) de la FundaciĂłn McKnight.
Gabe Brown describes himself as a city boy from Bismarck, North Dakota, whose only dream was to be a farmer. As a young couple, Gabe and his wife, Shelly, bought her parentâs farm. Gabe followed in his father-in-lawâs footsteps, with regular plowing and lots of chemical fertilizer. For four years in a row the family lost their crop to the weather: hail, and drought and once all their calves died in a blizzard. Gabe and Shelly both had to take full-time jobs to pay for the farm that they worked on weekends. After four years of failure, by 1998, Gabe planted his corn with very little chemical fertilizer, simply because he was out of money.
Gabe was surprised at how high the yields were. In the four years of crop failure, the soil had been improved by not being plowed, by having the covering of plants remain on the surface of the earth.
An avid learner and experimenter, Gabe attended talks, listened to other innovative farmers and to agricultural scientists. He tried planting mixes of many different plants as cover crops, always combining legumes and grasses. He learned to rotate the cattle in pastures, using electric fences.
Gabeâs cattle graze for a few days or sometimes for just a few hours on one small paddock, before being moved to another. Gabe estimates that the cows eat 25% of the plants and trample the rest. In recent years, Gabe and his son, Paul, have begun grazing sheep, pigs and chickens in the fields after the cattle have left the paddock.
The livestock defecate into the field, manuring it, and the plants respond to the impact of the animals by exuding metabolites (products used by, or made by an organism: usually a small molecule, such as alcohol, amino acids or vitamins). The metabolites from plants enrich the soil. Gabeâs system avoids the need to spread manure, or to cut fodder for the animals, cutting costs for fuel and labor, to save on transportation expenses. The soils on neighboring farms are yellow and lifeless. After some 20 years of practicing regenerative agriculture, Gabe compares the soil on Brownâs Ranch (as he calls his farm) to a crumbly, chocolate cake, and it is full of earthworms and other life.
Gabe openly questions the model taught to US farmers, that they should produce more to âfeed the worldâ. The world already produces enough food to feed 10 billion people, but 30% of it is wasted and many people do not receive enough food because of social and political problems, not agronomic ones.
Gabe doesnât claim to produce more per acre of land than conventional farmers, but his diverse farm of 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) yields meat, maize, vegetables, eggs and honey, and more profits than the farms around him. The Browns have earned a local reputation as producers of quality food, which they sell directly to consumers at top prices, at a farm shop on Brownâs Ranch.
American youth are getting out of agriculture, because it doesnât pay. Avoiding chemicals saves the Browns so much money that Gabeâs son, Paul, is happy to take over the farm, innovating along the way. He invented a mobile chicken coop for free-range hens, for example.
Farmers should be able to make a living while improving the soil that supports the farm. Brownâs Ranch is a large, commercial farm, that earns an income for the family that runs it. This farm is proof of concept: agroecology is not hippie science. Regenerative agriculture can be used to grow high-quality food on a commercial scale, at a profit.
Further reading
Brown, Gabe 2018 Dirt to Soil: One Familyâs Journey into Regenerative Agriculture. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Related videos
Improved pasture for fertile soil
Related Agro-Insight blogs
Killing the soil with chemicals (and bringing it back to life)
From soil fertility to cheese
Nederlandse versie hieronder
More than 10 years ago, a project in the high Andes in Peru set out to improve soil fertility with local communities. So, during a recent visit to the community of Colpar, in Quilcas municipality, we were surprised to hear rural women talk about how they had established a womenâs association selling cheese and yoghurt. It seemed a long leap at first, but as we spent more time with the community we were reminded once more how development impacts can divert from initial intentions.
Jeff, Marcella and I had a chance to work with the local NGO Yanapai on a video about improved pastures. Farmers traditionally left their fields fallow for 10 years or more after they had planted potatoes for a year, followed by a year of oca, ulluco, broad beans or another crop. With increased pressure on the land, fallow periods shortened and soil fertility declined. The initial idea of the researchers was that by broadcasting seeds of legume fodder crops and improved grasses, such as rye grass after the last harvest, would help the  soil recover its fertility faster. This idea, as creative it was, never quite worked out.
But the researchers and NGO staff did not give up and kept on engaging the farmers in their trials. Farmers gradually started to drive the agenda. Especially in areas where farmers had access to irrigation water, they began experimenting with mixed pastures, containing a mix of annual and perennial fodder legumes and grasses, such as oats, barley, rye grass, clover, alfalfa and vetch.
All farmers in Quilcas now have semi-permanent fields of fodder, which they establish at different times of the year to have feed all year round, as Ricardina RodrĂguez, one of the local women tells us: âNatural pasture dries up in the dry season, and there is nothing for the cows to eat. Planted fodder is there all year. We cut it every two months, and it maintains our cows.â
When we interview Herminio RodrĂguez, he explains how their animals prefer a mix of fodder: âWhen you have a mix of pastures, they eat everything. And when you feed a mix with clover and alfalfa, the cows also give more milk.â
The farmers we meet all confirm that after 3 to 4 years the mixed pastures have improved the fertility of the soil, as the grasses with their abundant roots make the soil looser, while the legumes fix nitrogen from the air and as such benefit the subsequent potato crop. The farmers also add a bit of kitchen ash or composted manure after they cut fodder, which also improves the soil fertility.
The project had evolved from enriching native fallow vegetation with improved fodder species, to one where farmers installed and cared for their pasture as if it were a crop, fertilizing, irrigating and harvesting it. Some farmers may even keep some of their fields under permanent fodder, as they feel the benefits of having good fodder outweighs the benefits of harvesting more potatoes.
With additional support of two other projects, including a local government project, that focused on livestock, fodder and irrigation, life in the community steadily improved, and women made the most of it. While they used to sell all their fresh milk to a buyer from the nearby town, they realized that they could make more money by making and selling their own cheese and yoghurt.
âWe used to heat the milk with firewood, but now we use gas. We have our big pots, our cheese press. We improve all the time. And once a week we prepare cheese and yoghurt to take to the weekly market,â says Ricardina RodrĂguez.
LucĂa Ăvila, another member of the association who we interview on camera, summarises it well: âI would tell all farmers that we should plant pasture to have better animals, and to have a little money. If you have a bigger guinea pig, they pay you well. If your bull is bigger or fatter, they pay you well. Cultivated fodder is better to improve our quality of life.â
By having an open mindset, a certain degree of flexibility and long-term support to work with farming communities, researchers working with local NGOs can have tremendous impact that goes way beyond what they had anticipated initially.
Watch the video on the Access Agriculture video platform:
Improved pasture for fertile soil
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Acknowledgements
The visit to Peru to film various farmer-to-farmer training videos with farmers like doña Ricardina, doña LucĂa and don Herminio was made possible with the kind support of the Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP) of the McKnight Foundation. Thanks to Edgar Olivera from Grupo Yanapai for introducing us to the community, and to Erik CĂłrdova Ramos for the photo of the Agro-Insight team with colleagues from Yanapai.
Van bodemvruchtbaarheid tot kaas
Meer dan 10 jaar geleden werd een project in de hoge Andes in Peru opgezet om samen met de plaatselijke gemeenschappen de vruchtbaarheid van de bodem te verbeteren. Tijdens een recent bezoek aan de gemeenschap van Colpar, in de gemeente Quilcas, waren we dan ook verrast toen we plattelandsvrouwen hoorden vertellen over hoe ze een vrouwenvereniging hadden opgericht die kaas en yoghurt verkoopt. Het leek eerst een lange sprong, maar toen we meer tijd met de gemeenschap doorbrachten, werden we er weer eens aan herinnerd hoe de gevolgen van ontwikkeling kunnen afwijken van de oorspronkelijke bedoelingen.
Jeff, Marcella en ik hadden de kans om met de plaatselijke NGO Yanapai te werken aan een video over verbeterde weidegronden. Traditioneel lieten boeren hun akkers 10 jaar of langer braak liggen nadat ze een jaar lang aardappels hadden geplant, gevolgd door een jaar oca, ulluco, tuinbonen of een ander gewas. Door de toenemende druk op het land werden de braakperiodes korter en ging de bodemvruchtbaarheid achteruit. Het oorspronkelijke idee van de onderzoekers was dat door na de laatste oogst zaden van voederleguminosen en verbeterde grassen, zoals raaigras, uit te strooien, de bodem zijn vruchtbaarheid sneller zou herstellen. Dit idee, hoe creatief het ook was, heeft nooit helemaal gewerkt.
Maar de onderzoekers en de NGO-medewerkers gaven niet op en bleven de boeren bij hun proeven betrekken. Geleidelijk aan begonnen de boeren de agenda te bepalen. Vooral in gebieden waar de boeren toegang hadden tot irrigatiewater, begonnen zij te experimenteren met gemengde weidegronden, met een mix van eenjarige en meerjarige voederleguminosen en grassen, zoals haver, gerst, raaigras, klaver, alfalfa en wikke.
Alle boeren in Quilcas hebben nu semi-permanente voedergewassenvelden, die ze op verschillende tijdstippen van het jaar aanleggen, zodat ze het hele jaar door voedergewassen hebben, zoals Ricardina RodrĂguez, een van de plaatselijke vrouwen, ons vertelt: “Natuurlijke weiden drogen op in het droge seizoen, en er is niets te eten voor de koeien. Geplant veevoer is er het hele jaar. We maaien het om de twee maanden, en het onderhoudt onze koeien.”
Als we Herminio RodrĂguez interviewen, legt hij uit hoe hun dieren de voorkeur geven aan een mix van voedergewassen: “Als je een mix van voedergewassen hebt, eten ze alles. En als je een mix met klaver en luzerne voert, geven de koeien ook meer melk.”
De boeren die we ontmoeten, bevestigen allemaal dat de gemengde weiden na 3 tot 4 jaar de vruchtbaarheid van de bodem hebben verbeterd, omdat de grassen met hun overvloedige wortels de grond losser maken, terwijl de peulvruchten stikstof uit de lucht vastleggen en als zodanig ten goede komen aan de daaropvolgende aardappeloogst. De boeren voegen ook een beetje keuken-as of gecomposteerde mest toe nadat zij het voeder hebben gemaaid, wat de bodemvruchtbaarheid eveneens verbetert.
Het project is geëvolueerd van het verrijken van inheemse braakvegetatie met verbeterde voedergewassen tot een project waarbij de boeren hun weiland installeren en verzorgen alsof het een gewas is, bemesten, irrigeren en oogsten. Sommige boeren houden zelfs een deel van hun akkers permanent met voedergewassen bedekt, omdat zij vinden dat de voordelen van goed voedergewas opwegen tegen de voordelen van het oogsten van meer aardappelen.
Met extra steun van twee andere projecten, waaronder een project van de plaatselijke overheid, die zich richtten op vee, veevoeder en irrigatie, verbeterde het leven in de gemeenschap gestaag, en de vrouwen haalden daar het meeste uit. Terwijl ze vroeger al hun verse melk verkochten aan een opkoper uit de nabijgelegen stad, realiseerden ze zich dat ze meer geld konden verdienen door hun eigen kaas en yoghurt te maken en te verkopen.
“Vroeger verwarmden we de melk met brandhout, maar nu gebruiken we gas. We hebben onze grote potten, onze kaaspers. We verbeteren de hele tijd. En Ă©Ă©n keer per week maken we kaas en yoghurt om mee te nemen naar de wekelijkse markt,” zegt Ricardina RodrĂguez.
LucĂa Ăvila, een ander lid van de vereniging die we voor de camera interviewen, vat het goed samen: “Ik zou tegen alle boeren willen zeggen dat we weiland moeten planten om betere dieren te hebben, en om een beetje geld te hebben. Als je een grotere cavia hebt, betalen ze je goed. Als je stier groter of vetter is, betalen ze je goed. Gekweekt voer is beter om de kwaliteit van ons leven te verbeteren.”
Door een open mentaliteit, een zekere mate van flexibiliteit en steun op lange termijn om met boerengemeenschappen samen te werken, kunnen onderzoekers die met lokale NGO’s samenwerken een enorme impact hebben die veel verder gaat dan wat ze aanvankelijk hadden voorzien.
Bekijk de video op het Access Agriculture video platform:
Improved pasture for fertile soil
