SLM Database

Gmelina trees as a basis for an agroforestry system help increase the soil's organic matter content, foster associated biodiversity, optimize the hydrological cycle, mitigate soil erosion, and generate income.

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 03/04/2023 8:21 p.m.

Biochar is generated through the process of pyrolysis (partial combustion) of plant biomass like corn cobs or forest residues, in a heat-intensive, oxygen-free or low-oxygen environment. By spreading biochar on fields, the objective is to enhance the nutrient-holding capacity and structure of soil, and thereby to improve plant production.

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 02/25/2023 5 p.m.

Rotational livestock grazing is an integrated agriculture and livestock management system where livestock are grazed in the dry season, in a crop field, to feed on crop residues and/or weeds and where manure is used as an organic fertiliser for soil restoration purposes. While grazing, the animals feed on crop …

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 11/24/2022 1:30 a.m.

Mucuna (Mucuna pruriens) is an annual herbaceous legume used as a cover crop to restore soil fertility. Beyond its nitrogen-fixing properties, its dense foliage is a living mulch that helps replenish the soil's organic matter content, capturing rainwater, protecting the soil from erosion and keeping weeds under control.

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 03/12/2023 2:12 a.m.

Pigeon pea, a leguminous shrub, enhances the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil. Through symbiotic nitrogen fixation, it can fix approximately 70 kg of nitrogen per hectare per season. When intercropped with maize, pigeon pea has the potential to double both maize yields and pigeon pea grain production.

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 11/22/2022 1:57 p.m.

Mulching is the practice of spreading non-living organic matter - such as crop residues - onto the soil for its protection and improvement while cover cropping is the planting of a legume species such as mucuna which protects the soil surface and fixes nitrogen,

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 02/25/2023 1:40 p.m.

Contour ploughing is tillage across the slope designed to slow runoff and reduce the risk of soil erosion and degradation.

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 03/13/2023 1:32 a.m.

Staggered planting of crops successively over the season mitigates the risks associated with pockets of drought and increases the chances of successful harvests.

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 03/13/2023 6:19 p.m.

Effective crop residue management involves returning organic matter to the soil by spreading plant residues (cereal straw, legume tops, etc.) after harvesting. This technique makes it possible, among other things, to (i) reduce the loss of fine soil particles due to water- or wind-induced erosion, (ii) return part of the …

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 03/04/2023 2:47 p.m.

Short-cycle varieties are crops whose products mature in no more than three months. These crops, which include certain maize varieties, are grown to adapt to climatic hazards, especially in areas with irregular rainfall cycles.

• Compiler: Gatien AGBOKOUN CHRISTOPHE
• 03/14/2023 6:41 p.m.