Integrated farming enhances rainwater and soil productivity

Abstract

The project team investigated the potential for a
number of other high value tree crops for inclusion in the
system (in addition to Ziziphus mauritania and Acacia
colei, , described in box). Analysis of the data is not yet
complete, but the responses of participating farmers in
Ghana and Burkina Faso to the SEF suggest that they are
delighted at the prospect of a diversified and integrated
production system that addresses most of their problems.
While the SEF is in many ways a self-contained concept,
it has great potential for integration with other promising
technologies, such as conservation tillage, conservation
agriculture, micro-dose fertilization (involving the application
of small quantities of fertilizers at the plantbase) and
the ‘Zai’ method of planting in water-retaining pockets.
Trials of these techniques are also under way across
more than 30 sites in the Volta Basin.