Organic Agriculture – A Holistic Approach
Organic Agriculture – A Holistic Approach
“Organic agriculture is a synchronized system aimed at implementing processes with results that ensure a sustainable ecosystem, safe food, good nutrition, humane treatment of animals and social justice, without using synthetic agricultural chemicals and non-organic growth substances, creating conditions for closed transformation in the cultivation system, only using existing sources on the farm and materials according to the standards of the production process.”
Conventional farming puts its focus on achieving maximum yields of a specific crop. It is based on a rather simple understanding: crop yields are increased by nutrient inputs and they get reduced through pests, diseases and weeds, which therefore must be combated. Organic agriculture is a holistic way of farming: besides production of goods of high quality, an important aim is the conservation of the natural resources fertile soil, clean water and rich biodiversity. The art of organic farming is to make the best use of ecological principles and processes. Organic farmers can learn a lot from studying the interactions in natural ecosystems such as forests.
Organic farming tries to work with nature as much as possible. Organic farming can be applied in crop production and animal husbandry to create a solid foundation for human life as well as for the natural environment.
Understanding this issue, since the establishment of the project in 2017, Biovalley and Truecoop have launched the most comprehensive and popular organic farming program for farmers to implement.
The development direction for organic cashew cultivation in Ninh Thuan province.
Most farmers in Ninh Thuan, Vientam have not paid attention to technical stages, lack of investment mostly intensive production, so cashew trees bloom sporadically, not concentrated, mainly dependent on weather, so productivity is not high, cashew nut quality decreases, profits are low.
Understanding the difficulties of farmers, BioValley/Truecoop Cooperative guides how to increase productivity, quality and profits through annual training. Guide proper care techniques, pruning, canopy creation; mixed-cropping, increasing biodiversity; Encouraging farmers not to use chemical fertilizers and harmful herbicides, instead increasing the use of organic inputs and applying weed and disease management by organic methods.
Figure 1: Truecoop Cooperative trains farmers in organic cashew production according to organic standards
Figure 2: Farmers implement mixed-cropping cashew and pineapple on farm
1. Pruning and canopy creation method:
Cashew is a light-loving tree, only the branches growing outside the canopy, directly receiving sunlight will bloom and bear fruit (called effective branches). The branches growing inside the canopy, not receiving sunlight, the overgrown branches, diseased branches are not capable of bearing fruit (called ineffective branches). These branches absorb fertilizers but do not bear fruit. On the other hand, cashew gardens that are not pruned and canopied make the garden dense, humid and very susceptible to pests and diseases.
In practice, through the program of mobilizing farmers to simultaneously prune and thin out cashew trees, many farmer households in localities have boldly thinned out cashew gardens, cutting down 20-30% of the trees in the garden (trees that are too dense and bear little fruit) but productivity does not decrease but increases correspondingly. Thus, cashew productivity does not depend on the number of trees in the garden and the number of branches on the tree, but depends on the ventilation in the garden, ensuring that the distance between 2 adjacent tree canopies must be 1-1.2m apart, helping trees receive more light, strong buds, increasing flowering and fruiting ability. Pruning and canopy creation for commercial cashew gardens must prune and create canopies 2 times/year.
Period 1: Conducted immediately after the harvest ends, around June-July (before the tree sprouts new leaves). At this time, heavy pruning is carried out (combined with thinning if the density is thick): pruning branches that touch the ground, branches inside the canopy, shaded branches, branches affected by pests and diseases, overgrown branches, intersecting branches (cutting the canopy apart by 1-1.5m).
Period 2: Conducted in August-September every year. This time only sanitation pruning is done (pruning small branches inside the canopy, shaded branches, pest and disease affected branches, overgrown branches), absolutely do not prune large branches, the tree will bleed sap, affecting flowering and fruiting.
Figure 3: Truecoop farmers pruning branches to create a canopy on the cashew farm
Pruning method to create a canopy: For large branches, farmers must use a mini saw to cut at the branch collar so that the cut heals quickly and is not attacked by pests and diseases. Absolutely do not use a chopping knife, causing the cut to not heal, leading to pest attacks or many ineffective shoots growing at the remaining branch section.
After pruning is completed, clean up the garden, collect branches and arrange them into rows along contour lines to prevent water erosion and increase soil humus after decomposition.
2. Strengthening the supplementation of organic inputs
In Ninh Thuan, Vietnam most cashew trees are grown on sloping land, which is often subject to high erosion and runoff. Therefore, the application of organic fertilizers to increase soil humus plays a very important role in sustainable organic cashew production.
Organic fertilizer: maximize the use of locally available fertilizers such as: livestock and poultry manure from farmers, straw, branches and leaves to compost organic fertilizer for cashew gardens on sloping hills. Cashew nuts after shelling are buried in pits around the cashew root to return some of the nutrients that the tree has taken from the soil. Annually or at least once every 2 years, apply 5-10 kg of composted manure per cashew tree at the beginning of the first rainy season. Apply organic fertilizer to trenches dug in high soil, 15-20cm deep and 2-3m long, then cover to prevent rain from washing away manure.
In addition, the cooperative focuses on using welfare money from Organic & Fairtrade to support organic fertilizers for farmers.
Figure 4: Farmers graze cattle in the garden. The manure from cattle will be
collected and used as Organic fertilizer input
3. Promoting Natural Enemies
There are many different kinds of organisms in a field and not all of them are “pests”; in fact, many insects can have a beneficial function in the crop ecosystem. Others may be crop visitors, passing by and resting on the plants or soil, or they may be neutrals that live in the crop but do not feed on the plants nor influence pest populations as natural enemies. Even insects that feed on the crop are not necessarily “pests”. Their population may not be large enough to cause damage to the crop because plants are able to compensate for some damage without an effect on yields. In addition, the insects can serve as food or as a host for natural enemies.
Figure 5: Truecoop staff is guiding farmers in pest and disease management
Therefore, before entering a new crop, farmers always actively clean up the garden, focusing on cleaning weeds at the end of the rainy season, pruning branches affected by pests and diseases and pruning branches that no longer bear fruit to ventilate the canopy to reduce the humidity of the garden and allow sunlight to shine in.
In addition, farmers can use “Insect Traps” to reduce the density of certain pests.
4. Managing Weeds
As we have seen many times up to this point, a basic working principle in organic farming is to prevent problems, rather than to cure them. This applies equally to weed management. Good weed management in organic farming includes creating conditions, which hinder weeds from growing at the wrong time and in the wrong place and then become a serious problem for the crop cultivation. Competition by weeds doesn’t harm the crop throughout the whole cultivation period in the same way. The most sensitive phase of a crop to weed competition is in its early growth stage. A young plant is vulnerable and depends highly on an ideal nutrient, light, and water supply for a good development. If it has to compete with weeds at this stage, the crop may grow weak, which also makes it more vulnerable to pest and disease infections. Weed competition later in the cultivation period is less harmful. However, some weeds may cause harvesting problems and reduce the crop yield in that way.
Figure 6: Truecoop staff is guiding farmers in weed management
Therefore, taking advantage of local labor, manual weeding methods (using a hoe or lawn mower) can be applied as the most important way to prevent weed growth.
Through all of the above guidelines, Biovalley/Truecoop is gradually guiding farmers towards an optimal farming approach by applying the prominent methods of organic farming combined with farmers’ natural farming practices to achieve good results and increase crop productivity.