Category: Goal: Improve soil health

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Grass Seed Banks

Similar names: Community Seed Banks (also for other seeds)

Grass Seed Banks are a conservation and restoration strategy aimed at revitalizing degraded landscapes, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Communities can decide where they are suitable and establish them in degraded areas of about ten hectares. Grass Seed Banks are sowed with grass seedlings and should be naturally fenced using shrubs to protect the grasses against grazing livestock and wildlife. These seed banks serve as repositories of native grass seeds, which are essential for restoring vegetation cover in areas affected by desertification, land degradation, and biodiversity loss. They are a community-based initiative that restores degraded landscapes and provides economic opportunities for local communities, especially women. Grass Seed Banks can be managed and maintained by local women’s groups, who sow and harvest the grand grass seeds. Once the grasses are fully grown, they produce grass seeds, which the women can sell at local markets (for example to other restoration projects) or as fodder for livestock.

By selling the grass seeds, women can earn additional income. When grass seed bank projects are successful, the status of the women in the community can be improved. Selling the grass seeds can also help other restoration projects and thereby help to regreen other areas as well. Moreover, they can help to attract insects and small animals, which boosts local biodiversity and the growth of vegetation in the area around the seed banks.

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Fencing

Fencing around eroded soils, rills and gullies is a cheap and low-maintenance form of sediment catchment, soil and water runoff prevention on gentle, moderate and steep slopes. Three types of fencing are detailed in this intervention about their prevention of different types of soil erosion at varying topographies.

  1. Silt Fences → Softer intervention for sediment catchment, preventing runoff and wind displacement on rills, arid fields or gentle hillsides. 
  2. Woven Fences → Harder intervention for slope stabilisation and sediment build-up in gullies and rocky mountainous landscapes.
  3. Biotrampas → Harder intervention for rock catchment, landslides and slope stabilisation in gullies and heavily eroded, steep mountainous landscapes.
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Alley Cropping

Similar names: Alley Farming, Nalaad, Intercropping, Farming with Shade Trees

Alley Cropping is a farming method whereby trees and shrubs are planted in rows, and crops are grown in the spaces between these rows. This technique helps reduce soil erosion by slowing down water runoff and increasing water absorption capacity of the soil. The trees protect crops from strong winds, provide habitats for wildlife, and attract pollinators such as bees. Planting different species of trees or shrubs can bring additional benefits as they may be harvested to provide fodder for animals, food, firewood, or materials for mulching.

Farmers can start Alley Cropping on a small scale by planting hedgerows around their fields or farms. On larger farms, the distance between the rows can be increased to enable the use of machinery. Common crops used for Alley Cropping include corn, soybeans, wheat, and potatoes. Often, these crops are combined with trees that produce valuable products like hardwood timber or nuts. This technique is flexible and can be adapted to meet the specific needs of any farm, making it a practical way to improve productivity and sustainability.

NOTE: This method works particularly well in humid and semi-humid regions, but has also been successful in dry areas when undertaken with careful planning. In drier regions, it is important to ensure that hedgerows do not compete with crops for soil moisture.

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Miyawaki Forest

Similar names: Tiny Forests, Fast Growing Forests, Urban Forests, Potential Natural Vegetation

The Miyawaki method is a reforestation technique that entails the growing of a forest within a few decades – instead of centuries – by taking into account the succession of plants and plant diversity that naturally occurs in forests. This method was first conceptualised in Japan by Dr. Akira Miyawaki and has been successfully implemented in areas with relatively high rainfall rates such as India, Malaysia, and South America. However, it has also been successfully practised in other/locations/, such as the Mediterranean; the steppe zone of Jordan; and the Persian Gulf region.

This technique is particularly effective as it imitates the structure of a mature forest. It aims at recreating all the different levels of vegetation and combinations of species that would naturally occur in a native forest without human intervention – defined as “potential natural vegetation”. Practitioners must carefully select the right indigenous vegetation best adapted to local conditions, and they need to commit to watering and mulching the seedlings during the first years of implementation of the intervention. One of the advantages of using this technique is that it allows for the quick regrowth of a dense forest rich in biodiversity which can retain rainfall and create a cooling microclimate effect. Furthermore, the maintenance is comparatively low, as the forest becomes self-sufficient after 3 years.

NOTE: The implementation of this technique can be expensive as it requires a lot of seedlings for a relatively small area. However, it allows to obtain a fully functional forest in a short time, with minimal maintenance needed.

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Improved Fallows

Similar names: Mixed Improved Fallows, Mixed Intercropping, Shade Trees, Relay Intercropping

Cultivating Mixed and Improved Fallows is a technique that aims at keeping yields high while maintaining the soil’s fertility and moisture. This can be achieved by growing two or more species in succession, sown at different times of the year on the same piece of land which positively influences each other while providing beneficial soil nutrients. This newly replenished soil should therefore never be left exposed but always covered by crops and mulch. Traditionally, farmers used to leave a section of their land to “rest” (= the fallow) for one year or more after a period of intense cultivation. This allows the soil to be covered by natural vegetation which restores nutrients, organic matter, and soil microbial activity necessary to make the soil fertile. However, with the increasing demand for resources, this practice is rarely used. To ensure long-term soil fertility, some farmers have come up with the solution of planting fallow plants, which can either be a tree, a shrub or a herbaceous cover crop – often a leguminous species, during the fallow phase. Fallow plants can then be used to: provide fodder, break cycles of pests (as some species are natural pest-repellents), attract honeybees, keep weeds away, shade crops, increase soil activity, and increase biodiversity. 

Mixed Improved Fallows can perform even better than having one fallow species on rotation. This is when two or more fallow species are combined with one traditional crop. Usually, one of the two fallow species grows to a tall height providing shade, while the other is usually a “nitrogen fixing” plant which restores nutrients in the soil. 

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Silvopasture

Similar names: silvopastoral system, mixed pastures.

Silvopasture is a technique that integrates trees and shrubs with the keeping of grazing livestock on the same piece of land. Silvopasture interventions aim to realise the benefits of combining two systems: grazing animals help to keep weeds away from trees and fertilise the soil with manure, while trees (often fruit trees) provide additional fodder for the livestock through their extra leaves/biomass. Silvopastoral systems are used as an alternative to conventional cattle farming systems to combat deforestation problems.

This intervention is traditionally applied in tropical and temperate zones but also in subhumid, semiarid, and arid regions. Some other variations are agro-silver-pastures, which combine trees or shrubs, wish crops and cattle. A more complex system should be well planned but that can bring a variety of benefits. Also called the crop-livestock-forest system (CIF). Another alternative is silver fishery, which combines woody perennials and fish resources.

Silvopasture offers numerous ecological benefits, including improved water management by reducing runoff and increasing retention, which prevents soil erosion and landslides. It enhances soil quality and nutrient content, supports carbon sequestration through tree planting, and boosts biodiversity by introducing trees that provide habitats for various species. Additionally, it reduces the risk of fire by controlling understory vegetation and improves livestock conditions by providing shade, which can increase their lifespan and milk yield. Economically, silvopasture lowers costs by using livestock for weed control, diversifies income sources through harvesting trees and livestock products, and enhances food security and sustainability for farming communities. It also supports indigenous livelihoods by preserving traditional knowledge and culture.