Learn With Us: Improved Fallows—Why the Land Needs Rest

Soil that is continuously cultivated without a chance to regenerate will lose its fertility. Before synthetic fertilizers, farmers recognized that their land needed time to lie fallow in order to be productive with natural growth replenishing the soil with nutrients and organic matter. 

However, many rural farmers cannot allow what little land they have to sit fallow. These farmers rely on what they grow to feed their families and sell their crops to provide income. Letting the land rest (although the benefit would be an increase in yield) is not an option.  

But what if farmland could be replenished by plants that are valuable to farmers? What if the soil could be revitalized while being cultivated? Sustainable (or innovative) agriculture looks at ways to make this happen.

Below is the video from a Tuesday morning staff trainings where Technical Director Bob Morikawa shed light on sustainable agriculture and improvements being made, allowing farmers with limited land to let it fallow.

Prior to watching the training video, review Why Trees Mean Food Security in Malawi. 


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