MOIST GARDENS OFFER MUCH NEEDED RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Introduction

A moist garden refers to a farm establishment which provides micro climate which enable farmers to grow crops not suited for their natural environment. Through establishing a moist garden family farmers from arid and semi arid areas are able to grow crops otherwise suited for areas receiving heavy rainfall.

These gardens can be contained, such as when you build a wood or stone /concrete/reinforced plasticine structure to keep the bed intact, or they can be more free form, with soil and amendments merely piled several inches high. You can plant anything from vegetables to perennials and shrubs in a raised bed. Fruits, such as strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and , also do very well in a this type of bed. In Kitui and Machakos through support of Inades formation Kenya, farmers have been able to establish moist gardens where they have planted arrow roots which previously was perceived to suited for wetlands

Materials for construction

Ø A polythene bag

Ø Sand       

Ø Course stone 

Ø Small stones/gravel

Ø Dried grass, 

Ø Top soil

Process of establishing a moist garden

Step 1

A hole of different length and width but of between 45 to 60 cm is dug depending on soil type. During the digging process the top soil is put on one side while the sub soil on a different side. This is done to ensure the top soil does not mix with the less fertile sub soil. The hole is then covered with polythene paper; this paper acts as barrier to prevent water from leaching

Step 2

The hole which has already been dug is filled with ballast on the bottom layer and sand on the second layer. Both the ballast and sand act as reservoir for water which the crops access through evaporation during sunny days. This ensures that the crops have access to water and there is minimal evaporation

Step 3

The moist garden is then filled with biomass which act as barrier to protect crop root system from penetrating the infertile sand and ballast component and with time decomposes to form organic manure

Step 4

Finally the moist garden is filled with a mixture of top soil and manure. The ratio for the top soil and manure is dependant of the prevailing fertility condition of the top soil. Once the Moist garden has been planted mulch is applied to ensure efficient water utilization.

Advantages of a Moist Garden

Moist garden have proved to have many

• It conserves water- a polythene bag lined beneath prevents seepage and hence water is retained
• The soil in raised beds doesn't get compacted, because they are constructed with accessibility in mind.

• It's easy to tailor the soil for your raised bed to the plants you plan to grow there.
• After the initial construction process, less maintenance is required than there is for conventional garden beds.
• It is easy to construct-don’t require ant specialized skills
• Materials for construction are readily available
• Source of income-you can sell the produce and earn cash
• It is a source of nutrient supplement- green vegetables are source of nutrients for a healthy living

·        Higher yield from intensive gardening -Moist bed gardening gives a better yield than plants grown on cultivated flat ground. Factors like good soil aeration and root run contribute to this, but an intensive culture is the main reason. In moist gardens, a variety of vegetables are planted closer than you would in the ground.

·        The rich soil with higher content of compost and organic matter from other sources can support more plants. They are expected to completely fill in the bed as they grow, their leaves nearly touching one another. This also eliminates competition from weeds

Maintaining a Moist Garden

1.     Moist gardens require very little maintenance,  it's a good idea to top dress with fresh compost and manure, or, if the moist garden only holds plants for part of the year, dig the compost or manure into the top several inches of soil. As with any garden, mulching the top of the soil will help retain moisture and keep weeds low

2.      Don't ever -- ever! -- walk on the soil.

The biggest advantage of moist garden is the light, fluffy, absolutely perfect soil you're able to work with as a result. When you build your moist garden, build them so that you're able to reach every part of the bed without having to stand in it. If you already have a raised bed, and find that you have to walk on parts of it, consider installing strategically-placed patio pavers or boards, and only step on that rather than on the soil.

Article by Andrew Nyamu & Gabriel Musyimi

Inades Formation Kenya

FARMERS EMBRACE ZYPIT AGRO INNOVATION TO COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS

Zai pits also known as planting pits 

are water efficient farming technology used in arid and semi arid areas to maximise water utilization by crops. Zai is probably the most renowned technology which has been developed based on indigenous knowledge (Sewadogo 2011).Zai are traditionally used to improve poor and bare soils in drought conditions These pits are filled with organic materials such as manure, compost or dry biomass. This leads to increased microbial activities which in return increase the rate of water infiltration during rainy period; this creates a micro-environment that helps increase drought resistance and improves crop yields.  Zai pits are most suited for ASAL areas where infertile, encrusted soils receive low and often highly variable rainfall. On such dry, fragile and lands small scale farmers face constant challenge to produce enough food to feed their families and generate much needed incomes. Consequently Zai pits are an innovation that addresses issues of land degradation, soil infertility and moisture retention. Through digging of zai pits degraded, hand-pan soils impossible to plow can still be made productive rather than being abandoned. Zai pits play a very important role in water harvesting, instead of water being lost to runoff, rain water is tapped in the them close to the crop roots

The process

Step 1

The first step is digging a pit of measurement 60 cm length by 60 cm width by 30 cm or 90cm by 90cm by 30 in the farm. However the size can still have different dimensions depending on crop to be planted and amount of rainfall the areas receives

Step 2

After digging the pit the filled it with organic matter of dry leaves, maize straws, etc half way which was to assist to conserving moisture content and increase manure contend as the organic matter decomposes with time. However the organic matter should be in a position to decompose within short time.   

Step 3

After the organic matter the zai pit are filled with a mixture of manure and top soil. The ratio of the manure to the top soil depends on the level of fertility of the top soil. On average the ratio of manure to the top soil is 1:3. The filled organic matter and the manure take between 20-25 cm leaving space on top for water accumulation and mulching.  The soil is then mixed evenly

Step 4

The zai pits are then irrigated in case the farming is being done during the dry season are the intended crops planted. If the farmer is planting maize crop a zai pit measuring 60cm by 60cm by 30cm takes up five crops while those measuring 90cm by 90cm by 30cm takes 9 crops. 

Functions of a zai pit

1.     Harvest rain water: The small pits acts as micro catchments that collect water and sediment, the soil placed downhill from each pit enhances their water harvesting function. The added organic material improves the infiltration and retention of water in the soil. The micro catchments helps to mitigate against periods of drought that occurs frequently in ASAL regions (Zougmore et al 2004)

2.     Concentrate fertility: Zai pits concentrate fertility near the crop root zone, wind or runoff driven debris, including leaf litter from nearby vegetation is caught in the holes. Fertility gained from these sediments is mixed with organic or mineral fertilizer making them highly fertile. According to Sewadogo (2008) this also increases carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and soil pH

3.      Accelerated decomposition: In the semi arid tropics, termites are abundant, their activities contributes significantly to decomposition of organic matter an nutrient cycling in the soil Mando and Brussaard 1999. In the process of decomposition added to the favourable zai pits environment that accelerates the decomposition making the zai pits to remain productive for longer period compared to areas without zai pits

4.     Reduced competition: zai pits ensures that competition for moisture, manure and pesticides by weeds are highly reduced. This is because the crop are developed on “artificial environment” which is controlled and thus weeds and pesticides are disadvantaged. However incase weeds grow then weeding should be done paying attention to the downhill side of each pit not to destroy the mounds of soil and reduce their water catchment function.

Article by Muendo Nyamu

Project Officer-Climate Change and Agriculture innovations

Inades Formation Kenya